The Hindu Business Line : `Novartis to continue with Glivec case'

Patent battle
Novartis is challenging the rejection of its patent application on cancer drug Glivec.
The application had been rejected on the grounds that the molecule is a known substance.

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Mumbai March 6 The din of international pressure asking Novartis to stop pursuing its patent litigation in India over cancer drug Glivec was heard in Basel at the Swiss drugmaker's annual general meeting (AGM).

"We bought one share in the company to be able to ask questions to the company at the general meeting," Mr Julien Reinhard of Swiss non-government organisation Berne Declaration, told Business Line from Basel.

Mr Reinhard said that he asked Novartis whether it would drop the case on Glivec in India. Similar questions on Glivec were asked by another group of shareholders as well, he said. Investors and civil society are concerned about the future course Novartis would take on the Glivec case in India, he said. But the response from Novartis management has been "unsatisfactory", he added.

The voice of shareholders and investors on Glivec is the most recent of the international pressure that has been building up against Novartis' decision to pursue the case on Glivec. BD along with international development agency Oxfam were concerned that the Glivec case would affect India's role as supplier of inexpensive generic medicines to the rest of the world.

Novartis is at the heart of a patent-battle in India, challenging the rejection of its patent application on Glivec. The application had been rejected on the grounds that the molecule is a known substance. The company is simultaneously fighting another case seeking that the Indian patent law allow the patenting of an incremental development on an existing drug molecule.

At the AGM, Novartis AG's Chief Executive, Dr Daniel Vasella, reiterated the company's stand and said that it would continue with the legal action in India. He said that the company would stand up for what it thinks is right, despite criticism from campaigners and shareholders, an agency report from Basel said. Novartis, at present, gives Glivec free to over 6,700 chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients in India, as part of its patient assistance programme. And Dr Vasella told the meeting that only one per cent of CML patients were paying for the drug in India.

The original Novartis drug costs over Rs 1 lakh per patient per month, while the generic copies of the same drug made locally by Indian companies costs about Rs 10,000 per patient per month.

Meanwhile, the hearing at the Madras High Court was on Tuesday adjourned, with the judge pleading unwell. The next hearing on the case, relating to recognising incremental developments in the patent law, is now scheduled for March 26. A final ruling is expected about a month later.

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