Novartis Indian patent hearings close, but no verdict yet

After more than 12 weeks of hearings in India's Supreme Court, humanitarian aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says it has learnt that final arguments into the Novartis versus Union of India case challenging the interpretation of Section 3d of India's patent law have today come to an end.

Section 3(d) led to Swiss drug major Novartis (NOVN: VX) being denied a patent for cancer drug imatinib mesylate (marketed by the company as Glivec). Novartis is contesting the Indian patent office’s and appellate body’s decisions to reject the company’s application for a patent on the salt form of imatinib. India, the world’s leading exporter of generic medicines, introduced drug patenting in 2005 with a provision to exclude protection for modifications to existing compounds. The majority of patent applications in Europe fall into this category.

Novartis’ arguments for patent