Joint campaign by Oxfam and FairPensions forces Novartis to drop challenge to Indian patent law
A campaign by Oxfam, with help from FairPensions, has helped to secure the availability of affordable generic medicines for millions of people in developing countries. On 6th August Novartis, a major pharmaceutical company, announced that it would not appeal a ruling by the High Court in Chennai, India. The company was attempting to challenge an Indian law that allows the government to refuse patents for medicines which are "not truly innovative" and thus clear the way for the production of affordable generic medicines. Oxfam believes this law is crucial for the provision of medicines to some of the world's poorest people.
In early 2007, Oxfam and FairPensions launched a UK campaign, which included individuals lobbying their pension funds about Novartis' actions in India, and resulted in unprecedented pension fund scrutiny of the company. One major fund manager reported that it had 'never had so many questions from pension funds on a particular campaign issue.'
Alex van der Velden, Executive Director of FairPensions said "Investors should carefully consider the long-term implications of further attempts by pharmaceutical companies to challenge public health safeguards, which could threaten reputations in key emerging markets and undermine public acceptance of the intellectual property regime on which pharmaceutical profits depend".
Oxfam sees the ruling as a clear message to the pharmaceutical industry to respect developing countries' legal right to use the World Trade Organisation TRIPS (trade related intellectual property) safeguards in order to strike a fair balance between protecting public health and intellectual property. "This ruling is a vindication for India and a victory for campaigners" said Celine Charveriat, head of Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign. "Developing countries should not be bullied by pharmaceutical companies and forced into having to defend themselves in court for correctly using the safeguards available to them to protect public health."