India’s huge generic drug industry is watching how a single lawsuit based on a very narrow piece of law will turn out. Novartis says the case is about protecting intellectual property. Its opponents disagree.
By Alfred Romann
Very few Indians have ever heard of Peter Nowell or, for that matter, David Hungerford. In 1960, the two medical doctors from the United States discovered a genetic mutation in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a form of cancer. Their discovery launched the search for a compound that could block the single enzyme that causes the disease.
In 1990, scientists at drug multinational Novartis closed in on the target and, in 1993, the company filed a patent for imatinib, based on which the company developed Glivec, an effective treatment for CML.
A couple of years later, in 1995, India joined the World Trade Organization and much of the current trouble with India’s patent legislation began.
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