Court asks Glenmark to respond in patent row with Merck

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought response from Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on the appeal filed by Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) against the single-judge bench order refusing to grant interim injunction  preventing the domestic firm from manufacturing and selling anti-diabetes drugs Zita and Zita-Met.

Earlier this month, MSD had approached the court against Glenmark alleging patent violation of its two blockbuster anti-diabetic drugs Januvia and Janumet by the Mumbai-based drug maker. While the American drug maker had appealed for an interim injunction, a single-judge bench had dismissed it on April 5.

Following this, MSD filed another appeal on April 9 against the single judge bench order.

Now, Glenmark has been asked to respond to MSD's appeal within three weeks, after which MSD would have two weeks to file a rejoinder, officials from the companies said. The next hearing of the matter in court is scheduled for May 22.

MSD had earlier said that its patent on Januvia and Janumet are "valid and enforceable" and it will explore "all legal options to vigorously defend them".

However, Glenmark has so far maintained that its products - Zita and Zita-Met - are branded generics and are launched after due diligence.  Januvia, once daily prescription pills, are priced at Rs 300 for a strip of seven tablets of strengths 50mg and 100mg.

However, Glenmark's drugs are priced around 30 per cent lower.

Led by strong growth in the anti-diabetic market in India, Merck, which launched Januvia in India in 2008,  has achieved sales of Rs 300 crore a year from Januvia and Janumet.

While patent infringement cases are very common in developed markets like the US, in India they have picked up pace in the last few years. This is because product patent is a rather recent phenomenon in India, which started granting product patent only from 2005 onwards, as against other countries.

The MSD versus Glenmark case has also assumed significance as it comes in the wake of global debate on India's patent law and its stand on granting and protecting patents, triggered by the recent landmark judgement delivered by the Supreme Court in the Glivec case. The apex court on April 1 denied patent protection to Swiss pharma major Novartis AG for its anti-cancer medicine Glivec, allowing various domestic companies to continue selling low-priced generic version of the drug.

Though the basis of the latest case involving MSD and Glenmark are different from that of that related to Glivec, it is likely that the judgement even in this case will be watched keenly as it has intensified the ongoing crucial battle over patents between the multinational and domestic pharma.