(Updates with reaction, details) By Kamil Zaheer NEW DELHI, April 10 (Reuters) - India is "very concerned" that a challenge by Swiss drug giant Novartis to local patent law could restrict the global supply of cheap anti-AIDS drugs, its health minister said on Tuesday. "We urge Novartis to desist from this and withdraw from this," Anbumani Ramadoss told reporters in the Indian capital. Novartis has gone to the Madras High Court in the southern Indian city of Chennai against a law that blocks the patenting of minor improvements in known molecules. India is a key source of cheap generic medicines, and advocacy groups worry that millions of poor people could lose access to key drugs if Novartis succeeds in its challenge. "We are also very concerned about it," Ramadoss said, when asked if the outcome of the court case could affect the supply of affordable anti-AIDS drugs from India. The Swiss pharmaceutical firm argues that a tightening of intellectual property laws would increase investment for developing more drugs. It says the Indian patent system stifles innovation. Novartis had no immediate comment on the minister's remarks, but humanitarian activists welcomed them as "a big statement". "It's an acknowledgement that there is a threat to Indian patent law and that India is key in providing affordable treatment to millions of people living with HIV/AIDS across the developing world," said Leena Menghaney, a campaigner for Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in India. Ramadoss also warned Novartis that New Delhi could be forced to overrule patents and issue licences for firms to produce vital drugs, if deemed in the public interest. "India has not used compulsory licensing so far," he said. "So we shouldn't be pushed towards that." In November, Thailand stunned global drug makers when it issued a compulsory licence for Merck's HIV/AIDS drug, Efavirenz, with no prior warning. Campaigners say Ramadoss is sending the right message by warning of compulsory licensing. "It is a very important signal to the rest of the world that India is committed to continuing the production of cheap generic drugs," said Menghaney. Last week, the Madras High Court reserved its verdict on the Novartis challenge against the Indian patent system. It also ordered that another challenge by Novartis to a January decision that rejected its patent application for a cancer drug, Glivec, be referred to an appellate board. The application was turned down because the drug was a new form of a known substance. On the wider patent challenge, humanitarian groups say tens of thousands of people being treated for AIDS would suffer if the Swiss firm won its legal battle in India. The closely watched case in the Madras High Court has become a key battle in the long-running war between multinational drug firms and humanitarian campaigners, who say "big pharma" is putting patents ahead of patients. In March, Novartis chief executive Daniel Vasella said his firm did not want "popularity awards" and would continue to battle India's patent system, to serve its patients and "remain competitive". India is home to the world's largest population living with HIV/AIDS, an estimated 5.7 million people. (Additional reporting by Manjusha Chatterjee)
