According to this article, the drug maker Norvartis, just lost a major patent case in the courts of India. This trial has been ongoing for years, but today, the pharmaceutical lost. The case revolved the cancer medication, Glevic. India has laws regarding public health & patents. I'm not fully up to all the in's & out's of that law. It seems that if a drug is deemed priced so high as to be beyond a normal person's reach or can be seem as being detrimental to the health of the population due to it's cost, then the patent can be called into question.
This article talks about how this was an older drug no longer considered protected by India's patent laws. Norvartis claims they made changes in the medication & it should've be treated as a new medication. The lawyers on the other side, said those changes were minor tweaks made in an attempt to extend the patent.
The drug sells for $2,600 US per month while the generic costs $175. The upside here is a lot more people can afford treatment. The downside is the drug maker has sworn to do no further research in India. Norvartis claims this will have great repercussions on the industry. Most likely they'll do less research so they can put more $ in their investors pockets.
While I agree with the court's decision, I think Norvartis & other pharmaceutical companies are about to pitch a big fit over this. We'll just have to wait & see how this all plays out. This could affect meds across the board.
Cya...
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