(Financial Times) -- India's Supreme Court has rejected a plea from Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceuticals group, to patent its cancer drug Glivec, in a landmark ruling that health activists say will allow India's generics industry to keep making cheaper versions of newer medicines. The judgment will infuriate multinational pharmaceuticals companies, already frustrated at the way India's 2005 patent law -- which New Delhi had to adopt in order to join the World Trade Organisation -- has been repeatedly interpreted to permit Indian generics companies to override their patents. The Glivec case has been closely watched by both the global pharmaceuticals industry and activists for access to affordable drugs, who say it will set a precedent.
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For years, India did not recognise patents on drugs, which allowed India's generics drugs industry to flourish
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In a statement issued following the ruling, Novartis called the decision "a setback for patients"
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Novartis has threatened that if it lost the case, it would not introduce its newest generation of medicines to India
However, @placeholder's patent office ruled that it was not eligible for a patent as it was not a new drug, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court.