Withdraw patents case against India: Norway tells Novartis

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New Delhi, Apr 30 : Norway has urged pharmaceutical giant Novartis to withdraw its patents case against India.

Novartis has filed a case in the Madras High Court, challenging the clause of the Indian Patent (Amendment) Act, which does not grant patents to medicines that are new forms of an existing drug or are “ever-greened” rather than being innovations. The patents office in Chennai refused to give patents to Novartis’ leukemia drug Gleevec on the grounds that it was “ever greened”, in February 2006.

In a letter to Novartis chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella, Norwegian minister for international development Erik Solheim said: “India contributes in very significant ways to the overall production capacity for life-saving generic drugs, with major exports to developing countries. It is important that this contribution continues.”

“I, therefore, strongly encourage you to seek a solution in the current case that adequately addresses these concerns. I will encourage you to consider the option of withdrawing your case against India,” Solheim added. He also underlined the need for a shared interest in a universal, rule-based, open, non-discriminatory and multilateral trading system that, at the same time, can support global health security.

“Building of public health safeguards in national patent laws to ensure that patents do not limit access to medicines is a right of every country. The cost of innovation cannot be borne by countries and people with the weakest economic capacity.”