India Skirts Patent Laws to Help Companies and Poor

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/india-disregards-evergreening-drug-patents-to-help-companies-and-poor-a-869601.html


India has refused to recognize the patents of many multinational pharmaceutical companies. For six years, its Supreme Court has been hearing a case involving the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and the India state, which doesn't recognize the company's patent for the cancer drug Glivec. The Indian Patent Office argues that the drug is not a true novelty, but rather a variation of an existing drug meant to help extend its monopoly on the drug in a practice known as "evergreening."


Two uniformed attendants in turbans push open the large wooden door to Courtroom No. 5 at India's Supreme Court, in the heart of New Delhi. Then white-haired Judge Aftab Alam and his equally dignified, gray-haired colleague Ranjana Desai take their seats. Across from them, an army of lawyers in black robes prepares for the next round in the legal dispute between Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, and the Indian state -- and, or course, the domestic pharmaceutical competition.

For the last six years, Novartis has been fighting over a patent for its cancer drug Glivec, appearing before Indian authorities and lower courts. The drug has earned billions for Novartis since it was approved in 2001.
Almost 40 countries, including China and Russia, recognize the company's Swiss patents, but India does not. In defending its position, the Indian Patent Office argues that the drug is not a true novelty, but rather a variation of an existing drug. Non-governmental organizations, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders), accuse Novartis of trying to extend its monopoly on Glivec for another 20 years by making minor changes to the drug. The 2005 amendment to the Indian Patents Act outlaws the practice known in professional circles as "evergreening."

Cashing in with Copycat Drugs

For the Supreme Court in India's capital, the case is about more than just one drug. And for other multinational pharmaceutical companies, the issue revolves around what they can have patented in India.

[PETRUS]

1. Very interesting.