Health
Novartis Moves Out: India Drug Market to Grow to $20 billion
More drama from Novartis in India.
First, Novartis’ objection to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IAPB) on the appointment of Mr. Chandrasekaran has been rejected. This is a further setback to its legal challenge to the Glivec patent decision (covered here).
Second, CNNMoney, amongst others, is reporting that Novartis has decided to move “hundreds of millions of [...]
Income Inequality in Asia Growing
The ADB has just released a report titled “Key Indicators 2007: Inequality in Asia” (covered in IHT and BBC). The report concludes that the gini index, a measure of relative inequality had grown in all 15 countries studied, since the 1990s. More alarmingly, absolute inequality had grown even more. The bank identified the trend as [...]
Indian Court Rejects Novartis’ Legal Challenge
The Chennai High Court has just announced its decision on the case brought by Novartis against the Indian Patent Act. The Court rejected Novartis’ challenge saying that it has no jurisdiction on the matter.
The news has received near blanket coverage (covered in IHT, Forbes, as well as SciDev, MSF). Interestingly, Novartis has suggested it will [...]
US Healthcare: Long Waits and High Spending
BusinessWeek reports that the widely held view that wait times in the US healthcare system are not necessarily lower than in the rest of the world:
One of the most repeated truisms about the U.S. health-care system is that, for all its other problems, American patients at least don’t have to endure the long waits for [...]
Pharma Update: Analysis from BW & Economist
Mirrored from the THDBlog:
The Economist’s analysis of drug patents under attack in the developing world (from Thailand, to India and Brazil) is very illuminating:
At first sight, this row reflects an old dilemma that pits today’s patients against tomorrow’s. Compulsory licensing means that more Thais will get HIV drugs now, but it also means that drugs [...]
The Dilemna of Privatizing Healthcare
The New York Times is carrying an article on American healthcare, that points out how privatization has led to soaring costs:
In a saner world, the place where you live wouldn’t have much effect on how doctors treated your back problems. In our world, it can make all the difference.
In Idaho Falls, Idaho, anyone suffering from the [...]
Big Pharma Attacks Michael Moore
BusinessWeek has an article on Michael Moore’s latest documentary – Sicko. It would appear that everyone from insurance to big pharma is out to get him.
Still, there is mounting concern among the health-care crew. The pharmaceutical industry received reports from Cannes, according to Ken Johnson, senior vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America [...]
US Supreme Court Ruling on Patents has International Implications
The Economist reported earlier this month (Patently Obvious – May 5th issue), that the US Supreme Court had raised the bar on what deserves a patent, and qualifies as “non-obvious”. In a patent dispute ruling it stated that, “granting patent protection to advances that would occur in the ordinary course without real innovation retards progress.”
The [...]
