-Reuters Global drugmakers, battered by recent intellectual property decisions in the country, are girding for a landmark court ruling on Monday with broad consequences for their ability to sell lucrative patented medicines in the country. Supreme Court is due to decide on April 1 whether or not Swiss giant Novartis AG's cancer treatment Glivec deserves a patent in the country. "Big Pharma is nervous because nothing has gone in their favour in the...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Turf war between Big Pharma and generic companies, which was largely restricted to exorbitantly priced life-saving drugs for cancer and HIV, is now spilling over to other chronic ailments like diabetes, and threatening to change dynamics of the nearly Rs 70,000 crore Indian pharma market. Triggering a full-blown patent fight with US-based Merck, domestic generic company Glenmark has launched a more affordable version of the multinational's blockbuster...

-IANS The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Swiss pharmaceutical chain Novartis AG's petition seeking patent protection for its anti-cancer drug, Glivec (Imatinib mesylate). The apex court bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai dismissed with cost Novartis' plea challenging the Intellectual Property Appellate Board's decision declining the plea for patent of the drug that is used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia and malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumours. The patent...

-The Times of India The free trade agreement that European Union is pushing India to sign could put an end to India's status as the pharmacy of the developing providing affordable medicines, especially HIV drugs to countries like Brazil, Thailand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and several others. The negotiations with EU are on at a feverish pace this week in Brussels even before the parliamentary standing committee looking into the free trade...

-The Hindu Bayer's plea dismissed by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) on Monday upheld the grant of compulsory licence (CL) to the Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma Limited, a generic drug maker, to produce and market Nexavar, a patented cancer drug of multinational pharma major Bayer Corporation. The order will pave the way for reduction in the prices of costly life saving drugs. Disposing an appeal filed by Bayer...