-The Economic Times Should drug companies make clinical trials data public? All over the world, drug regulators are increasingly in favour of doing so, much to the discomfort of pharmaceutical companies, and the London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) is the first mover in this regard. As the journal Nature reports, EMA is likely to do so by next year, at least for some clinical trials data. On April 19, all the...

-Live Mint SC rejects Novartis's patent plea for Glivec, says it does not meet any standard of novelty or inventiveness In a landmark judgement, India's apex court rejected Swiss drug maker Novartis AG's legal challenge aimed at securing a patent for blockbuster anti-cancer drug imatinib mesylate, branded Glivec in the country. The verdict, which is seen as a setback to multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in India, may influence a rash of pending disputes...

-The Business Standard Court denies Swiss drug firm patent protection for its anti-cancer drug Glivec; domestic industry hails verdict The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Novartis AG's appeal for patent protection of its anti-cancer drug, Glivec, putting an end to a seven-year battle between the Swiss drug maker, several domestic generic manufacturers, as well as patient groups fighting for affordable medicines. A Bench of judges Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai said in a...

-The Hindu Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has termed "historic" the Supreme Court's rejection of Novartis' claim for patent for its anti-cancer drug Glivec. He said the Indian Patent Act was in conformity with its international obligations under the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. "It is a historic judgment. It reaffirms the position of Indian law and, in particular, provisions of Section 3D, which mandates... a substantive...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court order rejecting a plea to grant patent protection for Glivec, a cancer-fighting drug from Novartis, is a landmark. It will greatly strengthen the quest for access to affordable medicines in India. The decision affirms the idea that a patent regime loses its social relevance when a drug is priced beyond the reach of the vast majority of a country's people. That pharmaceutical companies employ high pricing...