The drugmaker may finally have convinced someone that its bitter patent struggle in India is worth supporting. Novartis is very actively lobbying the EU Parliament and urging its 785 members not to sign a written declaration opposing its stance on India’s 2005 patent law.

The effort appears to be working quite well. Various left-wing parties, such as the Greens, have harshly criticized Novartis, but the written declaration doesn’t appear to have much backing from deputies in the Parliament’s largest political group, the centre-right European People’s Party, reports the Inter Press Service News Agency.

A written declaration becomes the assembly’s official position once a majority of members have signed, but with only 47 names secured, it appears to be in jeopardy. Meanwhile, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, refuses to call on Novartis to back down, citing a policy not to intervene in court cases.

For those who don’t recall, the drugmaker is challenging provisions of the law after India rejected a patent for a version of its Gleevec cancer drug. Novartis claims the law fails to follow World Trade Organization rules. Doctors Without Borders and consumer groups say the challenge, if successful, would prevent poorer patients from gaining access to low-cost generics.

So far, Novartis has done a poor job of communicating its position to the public. The argument that patent rights are violated and research incentives will disappar is overwhelmed by the notion that poor people may die because a big company balks at a law. Lobbying politicians is very easy for a big company. Convincing everyone else is another matter.

Source: Inter Press Service News

[tags]EU Parliament, Gleevec, India, Novartis, Patents[/tags]