Novartis threatens Indian generic drug industry

Novartis, a Swiss Multinational pharmaceutical company operating in India, has been involved in challenging the laws of our country through two petitions filed in the Chennai High Court. Clearly, the challenges posed by Novartis to the Indian law constitute an attempt to profiteer at the expense of tens of thousands of poor and sick patients. It is also an attempt to open the floodgates for other drug companies so that they to can apply for trivial patents. The consequences will not be limited just to India. 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.