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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today rejected swiss drug major Novartis' challenge to Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents act which stood in way of the company obtaining a patent over its anti cancer drug Glivec in this country.
Basel-headquartered NovartisBSE -1.81 % had contested the rejection of its patent application for anti-cancer drug Glivec by the Indian patent office and subsequently by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) and had challenged IPAB's interpretation of section 3 (d) of Indian Patent Act.
The IPAB had upheld the contention of the Indian Patent Office that the drug, Glivec, is simply a new form of imatinib and hence not patentable as per Section 3(d) of Indian Patent Act.
Novartis has been fighting since 2006 to win an Indian patent for an amended form of Glivec.
The company's plea for a patent was first rejected by the Intellectual Property Apellate Board and later by the Madras High Court on the ground that it did not fulfil the standard of patentability under Section 3(d).
Section 3(d) bars companies from making minor changes in existing patented drugs to keep extending the patent, a concept known as evergreening.
A two-judge bench said that Glivec had several beneficial qualities but failed the test of enhanced therapeutic efficiency mandated by Section 3(d).
Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai also imposed unspecified costs on Novartis for challenging the country's patent laws.
The judgement is a huge boost for the country's drug giants such as Cipla, Natco etc, which make cheaper generic versions of the drug Glivec at a fraction of the cost.
Novartis' Glivec is priced at an astounding Rs 1.2 lakh whereas local generic versions, which feed most of the poor countries of the world, cost a fourth of that.
The ruling is a huge blow to MNCs which have been touting local patent laws as a hindrance to drug research. They have been lobbying to dilute the laws whereas local companies and health activists have been opposing any dilution saying it would make drugs costlier.
Novartis loses legal battle over Glivec, huge boost for local drug cos - The Economic Times
huge relief for the developing world
.
Basel-headquartered NovartisBSE -1.81 % had contested the rejection of its patent application for anti-cancer drug Glivec by the Indian patent office and subsequently by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) and had challenged IPAB's interpretation of section 3 (d) of Indian Patent Act.
The IPAB had upheld the contention of the Indian Patent Office that the drug, Glivec, is simply a new form of imatinib and hence not patentable as per Section 3(d) of Indian Patent Act.
Novartis has been fighting since 2006 to win an Indian patent for an amended form of Glivec.
The company's plea for a patent was first rejected by the Intellectual Property Apellate Board and later by the Madras High Court on the ground that it did not fulfil the standard of patentability under Section 3(d).
Section 3(d) bars companies from making minor changes in existing patented drugs to keep extending the patent, a concept known as evergreening.
A two-judge bench said that Glivec had several beneficial qualities but failed the test of enhanced therapeutic efficiency mandated by Section 3(d).
Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai also imposed unspecified costs on Novartis for challenging the country's patent laws.
The judgement is a huge boost for the country's drug giants such as Cipla, Natco etc, which make cheaper generic versions of the drug Glivec at a fraction of the cost.
Novartis' Glivec is priced at an astounding Rs 1.2 lakh whereas local generic versions, which feed most of the poor countries of the world, cost a fourth of that.
The ruling is a huge blow to MNCs which have been touting local patent laws as a hindrance to drug research. They have been lobbying to dilute the laws whereas local companies and health activists have been opposing any dilution saying it would make drugs costlier.
Novartis loses legal battle over Glivec, huge boost for local drug cos - The Economic Times
huge relief for the developing world
.
