As many as 18 national networks and hundreds of local organizations, under the banner of the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), have called up the doctors in the country to boycott all products manufactured by Swiss multinational Novartis, with a view to further mount pressure on the company to drop its pending litigation against the Government on the patent of Gleevec.
``The JSA has decided to issue the boycott call after prolonged deliberation, given the intransigent attitude shown by Novartis in obstructing access to a vital medicine for blood cancer,'' its convenor Dr B Ekbal said in a letter to the medical professionals urging them to boycott Novartis products till the company withdraws the case before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board for seeking a patent on Gleevec and abandons all attempts and plans to misuse the Indian decision making and redressal systems.
"We once again appeal to Novartis to desist in persisting to challenge the Indian legal system and in attempting to jeopardise the lives of millions. We appeal to the medical community in India to unite in a show of opposition to the methods used by Novartis that compromise access to vital medicines, by signing the boycott letter issued by JSA or by signing the online petition.
"The two selling products marketed by Novartis in India are Voveran (a pain killer and anti-inflammatory drug) and Calcium Sandoz (a calcium supplement). We are sure that patients would not suffer because of this boycott, because good substitutes are available in India for all Novartis products. When and if a substitute is not available in a city/village for a Novartis product, we would urge doctors to boycott other Novartis products,'' the letter said.
Novartis had first pressed for removal of a key public health safeguard in the Indian Patent Act and now continues to persist in pressing for a patent for its anti leukaemia drug, Gleevec (beta crystalline form of Imatinib Mesylate), after its application was rejected by the Indian Patent office. Imatinib mesylate is extremely useful in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) a type of blood cancer. In addition to Novartis, several Indian companies - viz. NATCO, Cipla, Ranbaxy and Hetero -- also produce and market this drug.
``Treatment with Gleevec (manufactured and marketed by Novartis) costs rupees 1,20,000 per month, whereas Indian companies market the same drug at a price of about Rs 8,000 per month. If a patent were to be granted to Novartis for the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate, some Indian companies may have to stop production of this medicine, and this may drastically curtail the options for the patients to avail the far cheaper version of this life saving medicine. At a treatment cost of Rs 1,20,000 per month, this would mean that over 99% of patients requiring this drug would be denied access to it,'' said the letter which also attached the list of all products by Novartis in the country.
Today India is known globally as the "Pharmacy of the Third World ", because Indian companies export cheaper versions of patented drugs to over 150 countries. For example, over half the medicines currently used for AIDS treatment in developing countries come from India. Many reputed personalities publicly appealed to Novartis to withdraw the court case, Dr Ekbal said while detailing the chronology of the case.