ATLANTA, United States (August 6, 2007) - Today's verdict by an Indian court in the case of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis will help keep lifesaving drugs within the reach of the poor, says international aid agency CARE.
India — known as the 'pharmacy of the developing world' due to its massive generic drug production industry — supplies much of the world's affordable generics to developing countries, where patented medicines are priced out of most people's reach. The court dismissed Novartis' legal challenge of a public health safeguard in Indian patent law, which, had the court decision gone the other way, threatened to greatly limit generic production.
"This is a very positive outcome in terms of expanding the access of millions of poor people to affordable medicines," said Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of CARE USA. "While intellectual property protection is important, it must be balanced with the public health imperative, and this outcome helps preserve such a balance."
Novartis had challenged a section of the law that allows India to refuse a patent for a drug that represents incremental modifications of an existing medicine as opposed to drug innovations. This challenge posed an enormous threat to millions of poor people in developing countries who suffer from cancer, HIV and AIDS, diabetes and other diseases and do not have the means to pay for expensive medicines. Nearly half a million people and dozens of leading humanitarian and advocacy organizations joined a global campaign asking Novartis to drop the case. Novartis said today that it is unlikely to appeal the ruling.
"This ruling is a lifeline for the millions of people who cannot afford brand-name drugs, and ensures that essential medicines from India will reach those who rely on them," said Sandhya Venkateswaran, advocacy director for CARE in India.
In Peru, for example, CARE has been able to source more than twice the amount of anti-retroviral drugs to treat HIV and AIDS patients as a result of more cheaply priced Indian generic alternatives.
"Novartis has made the right call in not appealing this decision," said Dr. Gayle. "We applaud their decision and encourage the company to continue moving forward, both in developing medicines and in promoting access to them. More needs to be done to continue to strike the right balance between protecting intellectual property and increasing drug access for the poor. We hope that Novartis and other pharmaceutical companies will engage in discussions about long lasting solutions to this balance."
