[Ip-health] Anbumani Ramadoss threatens compulsory license for Glivec

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=3D160757

=91Don=92t force us to issue compulsory licence on Gleevec=92

Financial Exporess
Corporate Bureau

New Delhi, Apr 10 In a veiled threat to Swiss pharmaceutical major
Novartis to withdraw the case the company had filed after being denied
patent on its cancer drug Gleevec, Union health minister Anbumani
Ramadoss on Tuesday said that the company should not force the
government to issue a compulsory licence.

"India has never issued compulsory licence on any drug but it should not
be forced to do so=85 we urge the company to withdraw the challenge,=94
Ramadoss said. The company offered no immediate comments on the
minister=92s remarks.

Earlier, the chief executive of Novartis Daniel Vasella had said that
the company did not want =93popularity awards=94 and will continue to battl=
e
the patent system in India, to serve its patients and =93remain competitive=
=94.

The Swiss pharma giant has filed a bunch of writ petitions challenging
the provisions of Indian Patent Act and the order of patent authorities
that denied patent on Gleevec. It had moved Chennai High Court in August
2006.

The case is currently being fought at the Chennai-based Intellectual
Property Rights Appellate Board (IPAB) as the High Court on April 4
transferred all its appeals to the board.

Ideally the company should have approached the government rather than
moving the court, Ramadoss said, adding that the government was
concerned about the legal challenge to the patent law in the country.

Compulsory licensing, if issued by the government, amount to granting
rights to domestic generic manufacturers to make copies of a patented drug.

A month=92s therapy of Gleevec costs Rs 1.10 lakh as compared to Rs 1,100
for a generic equivalent.

Advocacy groups have expressed concern that if Novartis succeeds in its
challenge, millions of poor people could lose access to key drugs.
Generic drugs from India, which account for about 22% of the $65 billion
global generics market, are sold across the world at far lower prices as
compared to patented drugs.


--
Mike Palmedo
Research Coordinator
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
American University, Washington College of Law
4910 Massachutsetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20016
T - 202-274-4442 | F 202-274-0659
mpalmedo@wcl.american.edu