Janaarogya Andolana Karnataka (JAAK), a non governmental organization, has urged the medical practitioners to boycott all products manufactured by the Swiss pharma major Novartis.

According to Dr. Prakash Rao, chairperson, JAAK, the company has misused the Indian decision making system by filing a case with the Intellectual Property Appellate Board demanding patent rights for its blood cancer drug 'Gleevac' even after its plea was rejected by the Indian Patent Office and the Chennai High Court.

Novartis plea was rejected as many Indian companies are producing generic versions of Gleevac and supplying these to the market at a much cheaper rate as compared to Gleevac.

The benefits accruing to millions of patients' world wide through access to the generic drugs will be jeopardized if Novartis is successful in getting the patent, he added. The treatment with Gleevac costs Rs. 1.20 lakh per month, whereas Indian companies market generic drugs for the same disease at a cost of Rs. 8,000 per month.

Unless the company drops its case seeking a patent for its drug before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, no doctor and consumer should purchase the drug.

Dr. Prakash Rao, informed that the NGO had approached Indian Medical Association (IMA) Karnataka Branch and the Karnataka Druggists and Chemists Association to support the boycott. While IMA, Karnataka has given oral consent to the support, the chemists association in the State have also upheld the request of the NGO. Several appeals were made to the company to withdraw the case but with no success and that has forced the NGO to give a boycott call, he said.

He also pointed out that more than 3,000 such cases seeking patents and that the case could become precedence to other related cases.

The two highest selling products marketed by Novartis in India are Voveran, a pain killer cum anti-inflammatory drug and Calcium Sandoz, a calcium supplement. "Since profit is the only language that drug companies understand we have decided to target Voveran, which is the largest selling brand of Novartis in India. We are sure that patients would not suffer because of this boycott, because equally effective 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" said Dr. Gopal Dabade of Drug Action Forum Karnataka.

Highlighting the capability of Indian genetic drugs, Dr. Rao stated that 67 per cent of medicines exports from India go to developing countries. Approximately 50 per cent of the essential medicines that UNICEF distributes in developing countries are from India. Over 80 per cent of all medicines distributed by the International Dispensary Association (IDA) are also manufactured in the country.