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| Edited By: Priyanka Golikeri |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 16, 2018, 05:42 AM IST
A Switzerland-based NGO has come out strongly against Swiss pharma giant Novartis’ appeal to the Supreme Court last week over the rejection of its patent for cancer drug Glivec.
Berne Declaration, based in Zurich and Lausanne, said it is evaluating future course of action depending on the Supreme Court judgment.
Patrick Durisch, health programme coordinator of the NGO, told DNA Money over telephone the company’s move puts at stake the lives of thousands of people. “While thousands of lives are at stake, Novartis refuses to accept past court decisions and files yet another appeal. The company is also relentlessly trying to challenge section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act, which is a safeguard against the multiplication of patents around the same substance.”
About three years ago, Berne Declaration had sent an open letter to Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella, asking him to drop the Glivec case in India. Durisch said the NGO might once again ask the drug maker to drop the matter in the interest of patients.
A Novartis India spokesperson said it had not received any communication from the NGO. Ranjit Shahani, vice chairman and MD, said, the company wants to “ensure effective protection for innovation... we want clarity on how innovation is valued and protected in India.”
Glivec, used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a life threatening form of cancer, is a key drug for Novartis, with global sales of $3.8 billion in 2008.
According to YK Sapru, founder chairman and CEO of Cancer Patients Aid Association, a Mumbai-based NGO, there are around 2 lakh CML patients in India, with 40,000-50,000 afflicted each year.
The case of Dinanath Patnaik from Sambalpur district in Orissa is a pointer. The 45-year-old, who works as a factory worker, cannot understand a word of the legalities of the case. But he does understand that if Glivec is made the only brand to be sold in the country, his wife, who is suffering from cancer, would have to forego treatment. The cost of Glivec, at Rs 1.2 lakh per month, is beyond Patnaik, who earns just Rs 5,000 a month.
“I can’t even afford the cheaper drug (generic) which costs Rs 11,400 per month,” he says. For the last three years, Patnaik’s wife has been getting the generic version of Glivec free through a patient assistance programme of the Indian Cooperative Oncology network, an NGO.
