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Researchers have argued that pending cases against India's patent laws are threatening public health and isinterpreting international intellectual property agreements. In a special report published in The Lancet, the Queen Mary University of London (UK) researchers highlight the legal challenges by two pharmaceutical companies, Bayer and Novartis, linked to the key provisions of India's Patents Act.Bayer's appeal was heard last week, while the Indian Supreme Court is due to hear Novartis' appeal today. In their report, "India's patent laws under pressure", researchers at the Queen Mary University of London claim that the Bayer and Novartis cases "are seeking to undermine public health considerations aimed at improving access and therapeutic advantage". "There are many problems facing access to and rational use of medicines in India but the provisions within the country's patent laws, if more extensively and properly applied, should help rather than hinder such access. India 's laws and experiences could provide a useful example for low-income and middle-income countries worldwide," the researchers concluded. In its landmark drug patent case, Novartis is seeking for an Indian patent for its leukaemia drug imatinib mesylate, which has been patented as 'Glivec' in nearly 40 countries including China, Russia, Mexico, Taiwan, Germany and the UK, and as 'Gleevec' in the United States. However, health campaigners have warned that granting the Swiss pharmaceutical company an Indian patent for the cancer drug would mean handing down a 'death sentence' for the poor and ill in the developing world, and could also decide whether cut-price generic drugs for cancer and other serious ailments will continue to be available in much of the developing countries.

India's patent laws threaten public health considerations: Lancet