The big drugmaker, which is challenging a patent law in India over its Gleevec cancer medicine, is getting beaten up by a growing cadre of consumer groups and politicians.

For pressing its case, Novartis is accused of pursuing a path that, if successful, would deny access to needed medicines to people who can’t afford them. Novartis, of course, disagrees, but such charges are staining its reputation.

And Novartis execs continue to struggle with the bad image. Now, they’re finally starting to give more media interviews. Paul Herrling, who heads research at Novartis, tries to appear contrite by admitting to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that there was a miscalculation. “We didn’t quite expect the uproar we’ve had,” says Herrling, who unsucessfully attempted to persuade Doctors Withouth Borders, whch has been highly critical, to back down.

Last week, Meni Styliadou, who heads the drugmaker’s pr apparatus in Europe, wrote members of the European parliament and asked them to disregard a recent declaration by several members who want Novartis to withdraw its patent challenge. No word yet on whether visits were made. (Sorry, there is no link to the letter, which was distributed by Doctors Without Borders).

The patent issues are, not surprisingly, thorny. For this reason, however, the controversy may well become a case study in how a drugmaker struggles to defend itself in the larger court of public opinion. So far, Novartis is losing.

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