Indian Supreme Court hearing of Novartis vs India patent case delayed again

Humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said yesterday that it has learnt that the Indian Supreme Court case of Novartis versus the government of India has been re-scheduled for Tuesday, 11 September 11, 2012. The case, already postponed from a July start, was supposed to begin final arguments on August 22 (The Pharma Letter August 21). The postponement is due to other pending cases which need to be heard.

In 2006, Novartis launched a bid to overturn a key public health provision in India’s patent law, Section 3(d). Novartis lost its case in 2007, but in 2009 launched a new attack on the law in the Indian Supreme Court. Novartis' legal action stems from an attempt to obtain an Indian patent on Gleevec/Glivec (imatinib mesylate), its drug for chronic myeloid leukemia and other cancers, which was denied by India's Patent Office in 2006.

Should Novartis win, patents would be granted far more broadly in India, blocking the competition among multiple producers that drives prices down, and restricting access to affordable medicines for millions in India and across the developing world, claims MSF.