When India’s Supreme Court ruled this week that Novartis AG’s cancer drug Gleevec was not sufficiently innovative to merit a patent, public health advocates lauded the decision, which they said would give more people access to needed drugs, and Big Pharma condemned it, saying it would stifle innovation.
The court’s decision, however, was not about encouraging innovation or access. It revolved around a practice the pharmaceutical industry refers to as "life-cycle management" and which public health advocates call "evergreening."
