The
Supreme Court of India held that the modification of a well known
blood cancer-fighting drug is not a patentable new invention. The SC
rejects Swiss firm Novartis plea to patent cancer fighting drug Glivec
or Gleevec.
Glivec is the brand name of Imatinib. Novartis had applied for a patent for a modification of this drug, a “beta crystalline” salt form of Imatinib Mesylate or IM, which it said could be better absorbed by the body – by up to 30% more.
Background:
The Novartis patent application was rejected by the Patent office. Novartis then moved the Intellectual Property Board, Chennai which rejected their claim but gave some positive signals.They approached the Supreme Court Directly without moving High Court.
Who will benefit ? The Novartis drug costs more than Rs 1 lakh per month, but the generic equivalents cost less than one-tenth. The ruling would be a relief to some 300,000 patients in India currently taking the drug.
What is ever greening ? It is a strategy through which drug manufacturers introduce modifications of drugs to extend the five-year patents on them. As the evergreening patent applications could be rejected helping to keep many life-saving drugs out of the patent regime.
Glivec is the brand name of Imatinib. Novartis had applied for a patent for a modification of this drug, a “beta crystalline” salt form of Imatinib Mesylate or IM, which it said could be better absorbed by the body – by up to 30% more.
Background:
The Novartis patent application was rejected by the Patent office. Novartis then moved the Intellectual Property Board, Chennai which rejected their claim but gave some positive signals.They approached the Supreme Court Directly without moving High Court.
Who will benefit ? The Novartis drug costs more than Rs 1 lakh per month, but the generic equivalents cost less than one-tenth. The ruling would be a relief to some 300,000 patients in India currently taking the drug.
What is ever greening ? It is a strategy through which drug manufacturers introduce modifications of drugs to extend the five-year patents on them. As the evergreening patent applications could be rejected helping to keep many life-saving drugs out of the patent regime.
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