Novartis battles over Indian patent law
A hearing has begun in an Indian court to settle a dispute over patent law following the rejection of a patent for a new form of Novartis" drug Glivec.
A hearing has begun in an Indian court to settle a dispute over patent law following the rejection of a patent for a new form of Novartis" drug Glivec.
The multinational pharmaceutical manufacturer is disputing India's rejection of a patent for a modified version of Glivec, an anti-cancer drug that it patented in 1993. The drug has been patented in nearly 40 countries, including China but was denied in India in 2006.
Novartis is arguing that Indian patent laws do not comply with the intellectual property standards that the country agreed to when it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. Novartis is also challenging "Section 3(d)" of Indian patent law that does not permit to patent innovative medicines with therapeutically relevant safety advantages.
The Swiss drug maker says a report from the Mashelkar Committee, commissioned by the Indian government and comprised of Indian experts, supports many of its concerns about Indian patent law, and mentions that the laws are not complying with international agreements like the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) from the WTO.
However there has been fierce opposition to Novartis from organisations such as Medecins Sans FrontiEres, which fear that if Novartis wins its case, the number of available generics will plummet.