9월 6일 예정된 노바티스 소송에 대한 인도대법원의 최종변론을 앞두고 국경없는의사회와 민중건강행동(People’s Health Movement)이 기자회견을 가졌다. “노바티스는 ‘개발도상국의 약국’을 폐쇄하지 말라”
2006년에 글리벡에 대한 특허신청을 반대하는 투쟁을 시작했을 때의 사진이다.
Press briefing, Monday 5 September 11am , Foreign Correspondents Club, New Delhi
Novartis: Don’t shut down the ‘pharmacy of the developing world’
What future for India’s Patent Act?
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is again taking the Indian government to court, challenging the legal interpretation of a critical public health safeguard in the country’s patent law – Section 3(d) – that principally limits the patenting of new uses and new forms of old medicines in India.
The Supreme Court case is the final act in a legal battle between Novartis and patient groups that stretches back more than six years over India’s future capacity to act as the pharmacy of the developing world. The final arguments have started – with the next hearing date set for Tuesday 6 September 2011 – in a case that will determine the future of generic competition.
A public health safeguard enshrined in India’s Patent Act, Section 3(d), has long irked pharmaceutical companies. In 2006, when the Indian patent office ruled that Novartis did not deserve a patent for imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) on the grounds that the application claimed a new form of an old drug, the company embarked on a series of lawsuits. Having lost both the case to have Section 3(d) declared unconstitutional in 2007 and the appeal for a patent on Gleevec in 2009, Novartis is now attempting to ensure that Section 3(d) is interpreted in a way that allows even improvements to an old medicine – such as imatinib mesylate – to be patentable.
If Novartis succeeds, India may end up granting far more patents than required under international trade rules or envisioned by India’s lawmakers, with huge ramifications on generic production and the availability of affordable medicines for people across the developing world.
Patients groups, People’s Health Movement and Médecins Sans Frontières are deeply concerned about the legal challenge and will speak about the implications it could have for people in India and beyond. The speakers will also provide an update on the Supreme Court’s proceedings.
To know more, access this briefing document:
Update on Novartis vs Union of India Case
Speakers:
- Dr. Amit Sengupta, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (People’s Health Movement)
- Leena Menghaney, , MSF – Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
- Loon Gangte, Delhi Network of Positive People
When: Monday, 5 September, 2011, 11am
Where: The Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia, New Delhi; AB-19 Mathura Road, New Delhi
Contact: Joanna Keenan: + 91 9871 800 723 Shailly Gupta: +91 9899976108