Novartis ‘seeks clarity’ on Indian patent laws

Novartis announced that, at a hearing taking place in an Indian court, it is to seek greater clarity regarding patent laws in the country, with the company seeking a patent for Glivec, a treatment for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Glivec has been awarded a patent in almost 40 countries worldwide, but was refused such protection in India, with Novartis claiming that such rejection contravenes the intellectual property standards the country signed up to in 1995 upon joining the World Trade Organisation.

Thomas Wellauer, head of corporate services and a member of the executive committee of Novartis, said: “Internationally compatible patent laws would spur investments in biomedical [research and development] activities in India, a promising field for the rapidly growing Indian economy.”

He added that such laws would also assist patients, the government and the pharmaceutical industry, with respect for patents necessary for firms to make expensive investments in the development of novel pharmaceutical products.

Last December, Novartis announced the publication of an article in the New England Journal of Medicine which found overall survival in patients with CML to be 95 per cent following treatment with Glivec.