Emily's Worldview

The pharmaceutical company Novartis is testing India's new patent protection laws. India has a new law on patent protections in order to comply with World Trade Organizations regulations and Novartis is challenging the right of Indian companies to manufacture Gleevac, a drug for a rare form of leukemia.

Why should we care about legal maneuvering in India? Because Indian pharmaceutical companies are the primary source of generic drugs for countries in the developing world, from penicillin to antiretroviral drugs. Public health programs rely on these companies to produce affordable medicines for patients who can't afford them. Public pressure has prevented the WTO from cracking down on poor countries importing some of these drugs, but now working with India's national government it has imposed regulations that put millions of lives at risk.

Novartis is trotting out the same tired arguments that a) they need patent protections to ensure their ability to fund R&D and b) that it's not a matter of patient rights, but about "clarifying intellectual property rights ". a) is a half truth--companies benefit hugely from public funding and cheap drugs for the poor are clearly a public good, and these huge companies spend much more on marketing than they ever spend on R&D. b) is a semantic argument at best and a lie at worst. The companies want to protect their profits at the expense of sick people. If Novartis continues with the case, Indian judges will make a decision that could severely hamper public health in Africa. If you think they should drop it, you can sign an online petition here.