India: Swiss Drug Case Threatens Developing World, Says Doctors Without Borders

A legal challenge to India's patent law by the Swiss drug firm Novartis could cut the lifeline for tens of thousands of HIV patients worldwide who rely on generic medicines, Doctors Without Borders said today. India-produced generic HIV treatments are the centerpiece of DWB's AIDS programs, which treat 80,000 people in 30 countries.

If successful, Novartis' challenge to India's patent law would result in patents being granted far more widely, severely restricting the availability of affordable generic drugs, said DWB. "They're going for the jugular," said DWB spokesperson James Lorenz.

"We are reaching a quarter of the people who need antiretroviral treatment in sub-Saharan Africa," said DWB's Dr. Ivy Mwangi. "Rapid scale-up in treatment is only possible with the availability and affordability of generic drugs, most of which are produced in India."

India has long been a key source of generic medicines. It did not recognize pharmaceutical patents until 2005, when it was compelled to uphold World Trade Organization rules on intellectual property. Novartis maintains that intellectual property protection must be safeguarded in order for drug innovations to continue. DWB countered that the practice of patenting as "new" those drugs that have undergone a slight revision is threatening lives in the developing world.

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