[e-drug] Summary of Novartis vs India

["Peter Mansfield" <peter.mansfield@adelaide.edu.au>]

E-DRUG: Summary of Novartis vs India
------------------------------------

dear E-druggers,

As a contribution to what Wilbert has described as "a flurry of messages about first India, then Thailand and now Brazil" you may be interested in a summary of the Novartis vs India debate just published by Healthy Skepticism:

Letter from Novartis re litigation against India's refusal to grant a patent for imatinib (Glivec / Gleevec)
By Peter Mansfield and Joana Ramos
www.healthyskepticism.org/news/2007/Mar.php

Most of it is not new for e-druggers but could be useful if you need an overview. What is new and interesting is at the end of our summary. Here it is:

---

In a report published on 20 April 2007 Paul Herrling, head of Novartis corporate research has called for the creation of a global taskforce to fund and distribute new drugs for neglected diseases in developing countries.

"Herrling believes it is time to set up an independent non-political body of all interested parties to tackle the thorny issue of access to medicine.

"This is now dependent on our goodwill, but governments and NGOs would like to see something more sustainable than the goodwill of big pharma companies," he told swissinfo...

Herrling suggests that firms could apply for funds to develop drugs for diseases such as malaria and grant licenses for their use in that field, while still retaining the patent for other commercial uses."

Source: Novartis wants drugs access overhaul. SwissInfo
www.swissinfo.org/eng/search/detail/Novartis_wants_drugs_access_overhaul.html?siteSect=881&sid=7737177&cKey=1177107181000

---

Herrling's proposal appears to go a quarter of the way towards Healthy Skepticism's proposal to replace patents entirely with competitive grant funding for research. We propose the competition for funds be open to researchers however they choose to organise themselves including in universities and non-profit organisations.

See:
Mansfield P. Industry-Sponsored Research: A More Comprehensive Alternative. PLoS Med 2006;3(10): e463
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0030463

Mansfield P. Introduction to Healthy Skepticism Inc, our reform agenda and methods. August 2006 Vol 24 No 8
www.healthyskepticism.org/news/InternationalAug06.php

regards,

Peter

Dr Peter Mansfield
GP
Director, Healthy Skepticism Inc
Countering misleading drug promotion.
www.healthyskepticism.org

Research Fellow, Discipline of General Practice, University of Adelaide
peter.mansfield@adelaide.edu.au
See publication list at:
www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/peter.mansfield