Mumbai (Aug. 6)— Novartis (Basel, Switzerland)
reported that the High Court in Chennai dismissed its writ petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 3(d), and
deferred to the World Trade Organization (WTO) forum to resolve the TRIPS compliance question. India denied Novartis's patent
application for the anticancer drug "Gleevec/Glivec" (imatinib) in 2006.
"We disagree with this ruling, however we likely will not appeal to the Supreme Court. We await the full decision to better
understand the Court's position," said Ranjit Shahani, vice-chairman and managing director with Novartis India Limited, in
a company release. "Our actions advanced this essential debate in India; now local and international leaders in both industry
and academia recognize the inadequacies of Section 3(d) and are raising serious concerns about the deficiencies of the Indian
patent system."
Novartis originally filed the appeal in India because the Indian patent office rejected the Gleevec/Glivec patent application.
"Because the patent rejection was based on Section 3(d), we challenged this specific provision in India," said Shahani. "We
had hoped to resolve this question on Section 3(d) locally in order to receive a patent for Glivec."
Novartis says still at issue is why a patent for Glivec was denied in India in 2006. The Glivec patent appeal will be decided
separately by the newly-operational Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). Novartis also is petitioning the High Court
for a new technical member because the current technical member is the former Controller General of the Indian Patent Office,
responsible for the original rejection of the Glivec patent.
"We expect the appellate board to conduct an independent and impartial review of our appeal and ensure transparency of the
decision-making process," said Shahani in a company release.
London (Aug. 2)—
AstraZeneca
selected
Kuehne + Nagel
(Jersey City, NJ) to handle part of its exports of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products from Europe to the rest of
the world. Under the agreement, Kuehne + Nagel will supply a complete solution for the transportation by air and sea of products
indicated for therapeutic categories, including oncology and anesthetics, as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
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