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Delhi HC Confirms Order Resigning Sale of Cipla Respiratory Disease Drug

 

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A Divisional Court of the Delhi High Court upheld a single judgment ordering Cipla to be restricted from selling its respiratory illness - Indaflo. Cipla launched the drug on the Indian market in 2014 under the name Unibrez, while demanding the revocation of five Novartis patents on Indacaterol, the generic version of respiratory medicine.

Cipla later had to change the name Unibrez to Indaflo, after a court order held the earlier name as infringing on the trademark of Novartis’s own variant – Onbrez.

Novartis' offer to prevent Cipla from selling Indacaterol in its entirety became a reality after a single bench judge in January 2015, restricted Cipla from selling their version of the drug, until otherwise allowed a compulsory license to sell the medicine from a competent authority.  Following this order, both companies filed cross appeals before a division bench of the Delhi High Court.

Counsel for Cipla Abhishek Singhvi and Pratibha Singh argued that Novartis should grant a license to manufacture the product to ensure its availability in India at an affordable price. Cipla had evaluated Indaflo, its version of the drug, at Rs 130 per pack of ten tablets, against Rs 677 for Onbrez. The advisors also pointed out that Novartis had imported the drug, which they said made local patients unaffordable and violated one of the key reasons for maintaining a drug's patents.

 

After winning the first round in the courts, Novartis filed a separate action for a permanent injunction claiming Cipla's patent infringement on Indacaterol. Rejecting these allegations and other motives based on the public interest, Judge Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva agreed in favor of Novartis in pronouncing judgment.  "No interference with the impugned order is warranted. The appeal is dismissed," said Ahmed J. in the proclamation of the order in open court.

"Novartis welcomes the government's actions to create an environment that promotes and encourages investment in innovation. Patents are the foundation for the discovery of innovative and essential medicines to advance medical science and treatments for patients" , Said Jawed Zia, Campaign Chair, Novartis in response to the verdict.

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