Court rejects bid to patent cancer drug

India’s highest court has rejected a drug firm’s attempt to patent a cancer treatment in a landmark decision that health activists said ensures poor patients worldwide will continue to get cheap versions of lifesaving medicines.

Novartis had argued that it needed a patent to protect its investment in a new form of the cancer drug Glivec, while opponents said the drug did not merit intellectual property protection in India because it was not a new medicine. In response to the ruling, Novartis said it would not invest in drug research in India.

The court’s decision has global significance since India’s generic drug industry, which supplies much of the cheap medicine used in the developing world, could be stunted if Indian law allowed global drug companies to extend the lifespan of patents by making minor changes to medicines.