Novartis condemns Supreme Court's patent bid for cancer drug

NEW DELHI: Swiss drugs giant Novartis condemned on Monday the Supreme Court's dismissal of its patent bid for a blockbuster cancer drug, saying it "discourages future innovation".

Novartis said in a statement the decision, which capped a seven-year legal battle to gain patent protection for an updated version of leukemia drug Glivec, "discourages innovative drug discovery essential to advancing medical science for patients".

The Supreme Court rejected swiss drug major Novartis' challenge to Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents act which stood in way of the company obtaining a patent over its anti cancer drug Glivec in this country.

Basel-headquartered Novartis had contested the rejection of its patent application for anti-cancer drug Glivec by the Indian patent office and subsequently by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) and had challenged IPAB's interpretation of section 3 (d) of Indian Patent Act.

Novartis has been fighting since 2006 to win an Indian patent for an amended form of Glivec.