Novartis challenges Indian denial of patent on Gleevec

Further to the new patent rules in India, Novartis is challenging a denial of patent rights to the drug Gleevec in a southern Indian court. Earlier in 2006, Novartis submitted multiple writs to the Chennai High Court after Indian patent authorities rejected its application for a patent on the anti-leukemia drug Gleevec.

BusinessWeek (through AP) reports: India's new patent law [ordinance], which came into force Jan. 1, 2005, allows patents for products that represent new inventions after 1995 -- the year India joined the World Trade Organization, which regulates patent rules for member countries. Indian drug companies and aid groups say Gleevec is a new form of an old drug -- imatinib mesylate -- that was invented before 1995.