India's Supreme Court recently struck down a new patent application from the drug maker Novartis AG in a decision that could increase access to generic drugs in the developing world.
The company updated a drug called Glivec (Gleevec in America), which is used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, and applied for a new patent. The original Glivec patent expired.
Pratibha Singh, an attorney for the company Cipla, which manufactures a generic version of Glivec, called it a victory for patients everywhere. "Patents will be given only for genuine inventions, and repetitive patents will not be given for minor tweaks to an existing drug."
Glivec costs about $2,600 per month, while its generic equivalent costs about $175 per month. The ruling against Novartis will keep the drug accessible for many in the developing world, since India manufactures use many of the generic drugs used in those countries.
Novartis originally applied to renew its Glivec patent in 2005, claiming that a new version of the drug was absorbed better by the body. India's patent office turned them down, stating that the change wasn't significant enough to warrant a new patent.
Drug companies often reapply for patents after tweaking existing drugs in a process called "evergreening."
Novartis appealed the decision, and a seven-year court battle ensued. Organizations like the Cancer Patients Aid Association and Doctors Without Borders were involved in the case against the patent because they feared that a win would set a precedent limiting the production of generic drugs for developing areas.
A 2011 study from the South Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, found that many countries including India, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and South Africa allowed too many patents of an "incremental" nature that kept populations in need from accessing essential drugs.
India's ruling will ensure that the poor have access not only to cancer drugs but also to drugs that treat infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
