Govt Moves New Proposal Before HC on Glivec Case (India)
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
Responding to an appeal from Novartis, the Indian government has proposed allowing the chairman and vice-chairman of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) to hear the company's appeal regarding the cancer drug Glivec. In August, the pharmaceutical firm had filed a petition with the Madras High Court, requesting that Shri S. Chandrasekaran, the board's technical member, not hear the appeal, as he had previously refused a patent for the drug. A Novartis spokesperson reported the firm is considering the government's proposal. Legal analysts say it is unlikely that IPAB will reverse its decision. The Madras patent office rejected Novartis' patent application for Glivec in January 2006, arguing that Glivec's innovation did not meet the requirements of Section 3(d), which stipulates that modifications of known medicines cannot be patented unless they make the drug significantly more effective. (Click here for more