-The Economic Times Extension of life is priceless. Simply priceless." These were the words of Venkat Krishnan (name changed) to Novartis after receiving treatment with Glivec for about two years. Following his diagnosis with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), Venkat married his college sweetheart against the wishes of her family. After all, the prognosis in those days for people suffering from CML was not promising. Taking interferon, a powerful immune therapy, was the...

-The Business Standard Patients' lobbies cheer ruling on anti-cancer drug Glivec, as affordability and access to life-saving drugs get a leg-up Though the India office here of Swiss pharma giant Novartis wore a gloomy look following the Supreme Court rejection of its Glivec patent application, Indian pharmaceutical companies and patients' associations are in celebration mood. D G Shah, secretary general, The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), comprising leading research-based Indian pharma companies, said,...

-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   Supreme Court rejects Novartis' plea for patent; green signal for cheaper generic drugs In a ruling that will help patients continue to buy several life-saving medicines as generic drugs, the Supreme Court on Monday held that the modification of a well known cancer-fighting drug is not a patentable new invention. The judgment allows suppliers to continue making generic copies of Swiss firm Novartis' Glivec or Gleevec, which has been shown to...

-The Economic Times Foreign pharma companies could be forced to overhaul their strategy for the Indian market by striking more local deals and cutting sky-high drug prices after the Supreme Court slammed the door on Swiss giant Novartis' attempts to gain a patent for its blood cancer-busting drug Glivec. But the ruling, welcomed by activists campaigning for affordable drugs and local generic companies, threatened to reinforce a narrative that India...