Novartis case: CPI(M), USIBC see wider ramifications

Swiss pharma major Novartis's ongoing legal battle against the rejection of a patent to its blockbuster cancer drug Gleevec has brought two unlikely forces on the same side of the fence: the CPI(M) and the US India Business Council (USIBC). Both see this as more than an attempt to review an Indian Patent Office decision, though for entirely different reasons.

While the CPI (M) considers that any decision favourable to Novartis will compel India to dilute its patent laws and thereby result in multinational monopoly (and resultant higher price) in the life saving medicines sector, the USIBC sees Novartis' success in court as an encouragement for foreign investments into India's pharmaceutical industry.

Responding on the issue, the CPI(M) Politburo had recently stated that the important public health safeguards in the patent law, introduced at the instance of Left parties, were now clearly emerging as targets of attacks by the pharmaceutical MNCs.

"The recent Novartis challenge in the Madras High Court of one such section of the Amended Patents Act in the Gleevec case is a precursor to more challenges that are likely to be filed as the Indian Patents Office rejects a number of similar patent applications," the CPI (M) had noted.

But USIBC feels that a Novartis victory will encourage investment in cutting-edge healthcare in India.

"The Gleevec case is a litmus test," said Lt. General (Retd) Daniel Christman, USIBC senior vice president of International Affairs.

"If India chooses to protect the intellectual property of Novartis, it will help open a floodgate of investment into India's pharmaceutical industry, propelling India on to the centre stage as a destination for innovation, research and development, and breakthrough medicine.