Swiss pharma major Novartis AG on Monday lost a seven-year long legal battle for getting its blood cancer drug Glivec patented in India and to restrain Indian companies from manufacturing generic drugs, with the Supreme Court rejecting the multinational company’s plea.A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai dismissed the claim of the Swiss firm for getting exclusive rights for manufacturing the cancer drug on the ground that a new substance has been used in the medicine. The judgment, which was keenly watched by pharma companies across the world, will clear hurdles coming in the way for the manufacture of generic drugs in India for cancer patients.

While a one-month dose of Glivec costs around Rs. 1.2 lakh, generic drugs, manufactured by Indian companies, for the same period are priced at Rs. 8,000.Advocate Pratibha Singh, appearing for Indian drug firms Ranbaxy and Cipla which had opposed Novartis’ plea, said that the judgment is a victory for Indian companies as they can now manufacture cheaper drugs so long as there is no patent over a medicine.“Patents will now be granted only for genuine inventions and not on repetitive inventions. The Supreme Court said there was no new invention in the Novartis’ drug,” she said. Read the rest of this entry »