22 Swiss organisations and personalities have appealed to Daniel Vasella, CEO of Novartis, to withdraw its petition in the Madras HC.
MUMBAI: Twenty-two organisations and personalities from Switzerland have appealed to Daniel Vasella, chairman and CEO of Novartis, to withdraw its petition in the Madras High Court, challenging the rejection of its patent application for cancer drug Gleevec by the Chennai Patent Office.
In an open letter to Vasella, they demanded the Swiss pharma major withdraw its legal actions against the Indian Patent Act, the Government of India and the Cancer Patients Aid Association. This is for the first time that Novartis is facing opposition on the Gleevec front on its home turf.
NGOs in India and elsewhere had already criticised Novartis for challenging the rejection of its patent application.
At the core of their argument is that once patent is granted to imatinib mesylate, a molecule of Gleevec, Novarits will have virtual monopoly over the cancer drug and would be in a position to control the price as no copycat version of Gleevec would be available.
The $2-billion Gleevec is a drug crucial to prolonging the life of patients suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia (blood cancer). Novartis sells Gleevec at Rs 14.4 lakh ($26,000) per patient per year. Generic versions of the drug are available in India for about Rs 96,000 ($2100) per patient per year.
The latest letter from Berne Declaration, an NGO, is endorsed by the Swiss Cancer League, the Swiss Aids Federation, Médecins Sans Frontières, Switzerland, and the Association of European Cancer Leagues.
The letter is also endorsed by Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland and chairperson from the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH), appointed by the World Health Organisation.
The Chennai Patent Office had rejected Novartis’ patent application in January 2006. Subsequently, Novartis moved the Madras High Court in May 2006.
The company says that Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act, on which the decision was based, does not conform to the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
It is precisely on this point that the Berne Declaration has joined issue with Novartis.
“Such a challenge is in contradiction with the spirit and the letter of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. The Declaration states that the TRIPS Agreement can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO members’ right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all. With this challenge, Novartis is seeking to limit the ability of the Indian government to take measures to protect the public health of its population and to have a patent system adapted to the Indian socio-economic context.” the letter says.
“We are very concerned that the changes sought by Novartis in the Indian Patents Act could negatively affect access to essential generic medicines, in particular HIV/AIDS medicines, not only in India but also in all the developing countries that import Indian generic medicines,” it added.
As if all this is not enough, a report in the August issue of Nature Medicine has put Novartis in a real spot. Following the report, which said that Gleevec can cause serious heart damage, company officials are learnt to have started warning US doctors of the risk.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}