The Hindu Business Line : `Unwise to challenge Patent Act'

The Government on Tuesday advised Swiss pharma company, Novartis to rethink its legal challenge of the Indian Patent Act. "When a company comes into the country, they should consider the Indian climate and condition. It is unwise for them to get into litigation and challenge the laws of another country," said Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Health Minister, on his way out from the GoM meeting on the Pharma Policy. The case, which was being heard by the Madras High Court, was recently referred to the Intellectual Property Rights Appellate Board (IPAB) in Chennai.

Earlier in the day, the Minister also specified, "India has not used compulsory licensing. We should not be pushed towards that." Compulsory licensing grants generic manufacturers rights to make copies of a patented drug under certain circumstances. Organisations, including Medicines Sans Frontieres, Oxfam, Network of Positive People, have argued that millions of patients across the world will be deprived of cheaper generic drugs if Novartis' legal challenge is successful.

Left parties and domestic pharma companies have also opposed Novartis' decision to challenge Section 3 (d) of the Indian Patent Act, after it was denied a patent for a `modified' version of its anti-cancer drug, Glivec.

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