[Ip-health] Novartis to divert India investment after patent case

[Jean Blaylock]

Novartis to divert India investment after patent case
Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:09AM IST
http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-29089020070822


ZURICH (Reuters) - Novartis will probably move large investments in India e=
lsewhere after an Indian court backed a law viewed as weakening patent prot=
ections, Chief Executive Daniel Vasella was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

"This [ruling] is not an invitation to invest in Indian research and develo=
pment, which we would have done. We will invest more in countries where we =
have protection. It's not a punishment. It's just a question of the culture=
 for investment," Vasella told the Financial Times.

Earlier in August, an Indian court had rejected a challenge by Switzerland'=
s Novartis to Indian law that denies patents for minor improvements to know=
n drugs.

Vasella said that his "concrete plans" for investment in India had stalled =
during the trial and that the investment would now go elsewhere, the Financ=
ial Times said.

The closely-watched case had become a key battle in the long-running war be=
tween multinational drug firms and humanitarian campaigners, who say "big p=
harma" is putting patents ahead of patients.

Novartis says the Indian patent system stifles innovation, such as making a=
 drug more heat-resistant or able to be swallowed rather than injected.




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