The patent office in India has slapped down an application from Tokyo-based Takeda Pharmaceutical for its single-dose Type 2 diabetes treatment dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitor.
According to Business Standard, the company said the drug was novel because it was a succinate salt form, but the patent office said that it was not eligible for a patent under the patent act because the compound is already known and that a new salt of a known compound cannot be regarded as inventive unless the new salt exhibits a superior effect or surprising result.
Indian authorities also shut down an application in December from Japan's Mitsubishi Pharma, which was trying to patent its diabetes drug teneligliptin with authorities then saying the application for the drug lacked "an inventive step."
Foreign drugmakers had been having a hard time in India with patent cases and with other court battles, and many felt the Indian government was favoring domestic companies at the expense of foreigners. But a case in October took a bite out of that perception when homegrown Glenmark Pharmaceuticals lost a ruling in a case that involved Merck's ($MRK) diabetes drug Januvia, saying Glenmark's generic used the same active ingredient and violated Merck's patent.
- here's the report from Business Standard