[afro-nets] Nearly a Quarter of a Million people Urge Novartis to Drop its Court Case in India

["Wim De Ceukelaire" <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Nearly a Quarter of a Million people Urge Novartis to Drop its Court Case in India
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Company would effectively be shutting down the pharmacy of the developing world

New Delhi/Geneva, 29 January 2007 
As pharmaceutical company Novartis proceeds with its legal challenge against the Indian government in a court hearing in Chennai today, nearly a quarter of a million people from over 150 countries have expressed their concern about the negative impact the company’s actions could have on access to medicines in developing countries. The Indian Network for People with HIV/AIDS (INP+), the People’s
Health Movement, the Centre for Trade and Development (Centad), together with the international medical humanitarian organisation MÃdecins Sans FrontiÃres (MSF), called on the company again today to immediately cease its legal action in India.

Many developing countries rely on affordable medicines produced in India, and such medicines constitute over half the AIDS drugs used in the developing world.  India has been able to produce affordable versions of medicines patented elsewhere because until 2005, the country did not grant pharmaceutical patents.

“Novartis is trying to shut down the pharmacy of the developing world,” said Dr. Unni Karunakara, Medical Director of MSF’s Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, at a press briefing in New Delhi.  “Indian drugs account for at least a quarter of all medicines we buy, and form the backbone of our AIDS programmes, in which 80,000 people in over 30 countries receive treatment. Over 80% of the medicines we use to treat AIDS come from India. We cannot stand by and let Novartis turn off the tap.”

Novartis is challenging a specific provision in India’s patent law that restricts patenting of medicines to innovations only.  If the provision were overturned, patents would be granted far more widely in India, heavily restricting the production of affordable medicines that has become crucial to the treatment of diseases across the developing world.

“Here in India, the People’s Health Movement fought hard to make sure our government implemented a law that put people’s health before patents and profits,” said Dr. Amit Sengupta   “But now, Novartis is trying to force a change in our patent law, which could deprive people suffering from life-threatening diseases and conditions.”

Rules of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) obliged India to begin reviewing pharmaceutical patents in 2005.  The TRIPS agreement, however, includes pro-public health safeguards that countries can implement, and India has merely  included some of these in its patent law. The Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, signed by governments in 2001, reinforced the right of countries to use these safeguards.

“The TRIPS Agreement already makes it difficult for India to produce the affordable drugs that people need,” said Gopakumar of Centad. By
challenging the pro-public health safeguards in the Indian law, Novartis is going even further and is trying to undo the Doha Declaration, restricting access to medicines.”

One provision of the Indian law states that any interested party can oppose a patent before it is granted in a “pre-grant opposition” process.  Such oppositions have been filed against numerous patent applications on essential medicines that do not warrant patents under Indian law.

“We have opposed patent applications for crucial AIDS drugs that we need to be able to access at affordable prices,” said Elango Ramchandar, President of INP+.  “Our survival depends greatly on winning these patent oppositions. We need everyone, everywhere to join us in our effort to get Novartis to back off here in India.”

The international petition urging Novartis to drop the case is ongoing. To sign the petition and for more information, visit: http://www.msf.org. 

Contact:

Sheila Shettle, MSF:  + 91.98.10.34.46.79
Leena Menghaney, MSF: +91.98.11.36.54.12

NGO STATEMENT ON NOVARTIS CHALLENGE TO INDIAN PATENTS ACT

New Delhi/Geneva 29 January 2007
A legal challenge brought by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis against the Government of India will be heard in the Chennai High Court today.

Novartis is seeking to overturn India’s refusal to grant a patent on the cancer drug the company markets as Gleevec/Glivec, and is also challenging the provision in the Indian Patents Act of 2005 which formed the basis for rejecting the Novartis patent.

When India amended its law in 2005 to implement the rules set by the World Trade Organization (WTO) governing pharmaceutical patents, the country included a provision that prevents companies from patenting small changes of existing drugs.  This was done with respect to the WTO Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, in an attempt to secure access to affordable medicines.  It is this provision that Novartis is trying to kill in the courts.

The stakes of the case reach far beyond India, and are global. Today, Indian generic manufacturers supply over 50% of all antiretroviral drugs given to patients in the developing world.  But if Novartis wins and succeeds in getting the provision of the Indian law changed to resemble patent laws in wealthy countries, patents may be granted in India far more broadly.

Over 6,000 drug patents including for AIDS drugs are awaiting examination by the Indian patent offices. Whether patents on these medicines are granted may depend on the outcome of this case.  If Novartis prevails, India will cease to be the pharmacy of the developing world, and access to medicines will be further threatened.

We urge Novartis to immediately cease its legal action in India.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
OXFAM
Knowledge Ecology International
Health Action International
Third World Network
Delhi Network of Positive People, India
Centre for Trade and Development, India
Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, India
Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Thailand
Instituto Brasileiro de Defesa do Consumidor, Brazil
AssociaÃÃo Brasileira Interdisciplinar de Aids, Brazil
Grupo de Trabalho da REPRIB sobre Propriedade Intelectual (GTPI), Brazil
Berne Declaration, Switzerland

Ninety-one organisations and personalities from around the world also made a call to Novartis to drop the case in an open letter in October 2006 to Daniel Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis.  The letter is available at: 
http://www.evb.ch/en/p25011413.html

Intal - Wim De Ceukelaire
mailto:wim.deceukelaire@intal.be