The Supreme Court observed that Glivec does not satisfy the "novelty" aspect.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has dismissed the plea of Swiss drug maker Novartis AG to gain the patent protection for its cancer drug Glivec. The SC decision is going to affect several other companies and their branded medicines in the country.
The Novartis’ fight to win the patent for an amended form of Glivec is going on since 2006. The company filed a case in 2009 against the law that bans the patents on latest drugs that are basically of same contents.
The SC ruling will encourage the healthcare activists who are fighting with the system to avail the medicines at a cheaper rate in the country. The patented drugs constitute around 10 per cent of total drug sales in India.
The Supreme Court observed that Glivec does not satisfy the "novelty" aspect. Glivec is not a new medicine but an amended version of a known compound hence it refused the patent protection for Glivec.
However, the latest form of Glivec has been patented in nearly 40 countries including the United States, Russia and China.