One of the most exciting is Glivec, STI-571, for chronic myelogenous leukemia (see box, page 34).
Since then, Gleevec, known as Glivec outside the United States, has only looked more promising.
Finally, Novartis continues to fight to retain its legal rights to its cancer drug, Glivec.
Clinical trials at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle showed Glivec could successfully treat the disease.
But for now, Glivec looks like the kind of silver bullet that scientists spend their whole lives looking for.
Into this gloom comes Novartis' Glivec, the first leukemia drug designed to attack the molecular machinery that drives the disease.
Novartis appealed, arguing the drug was a more easily absorbed version of Glivec and that it qualified for a patent.
The earlier version of Glivec did not have an Indian patent because its development far predated the country's 2005 patent law.
The decision means generic drugmakers can continue to sell cheaper copies of Glivec in India, one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical markets.
Novartis had filed a plea with the Supreme Court after the Intellectual Property Appellate Board had rejected a patent claim for Glivec.
FORBES: India Court Ruling Against Novartis Is Dark Omen For Big Pharma
In India, Glivec costs about 120, 000 rupees for a one month dose.
FORBES: India Court Ruling Against Novartis Is Dark Omen For Big Pharma
Healthcare campaigners have welcomed India's rejection of a legal bid by Swiss company Novartis to patent a new version of its cancer drug, Glivec.
India's media have hailed the Supreme Court's court's rejection of a plea by Novartis to patent an updated version of its cancer drug, Glivec.
Novartis contends that 95% of patients in India, roughly 16, 000 patients, receive Glivec free of charge under a support program funded by the company.
Later this year Novartis plans to introduce five more drugs to complete the turnaround: Glivec, Zelmac, Xolair and Starlix for diabetes and Zometa for cancer.
It also said it would be immoral to hand a patent to Glivec given its high price and the low standard of living in India.
Glivec became Gleevec, Cidecin became Cubicin, and Antegren became Tysabri (those are for cancer, bacterial infection, and multiple sclerosis, respectively.) But changes in generic name seem less common.
FORBES: Why Pfizer's Biggest Experimental Drug Got A Name Change
Glivec is currently available in Scotland, parts of Europe and the United States, but Mrs Tittley was told it could not be prescribed on the NHS in England.
Glivec is marketed as Gleevec in the United States.
FORBES: India Court Ruling Against Novartis Is Dark Omen For Big Pharma
Novartis said Glivec is patented in nearly 40 other countries.
For example, in Scotland, the leukaemia drug Glivec is available, while a preliminary verdict from NICE suggests that it could be restricted to fewer patients in England and Wales.
There's good reason to rush: The white powder is an experimental drug called Glivec, and it may be the most potent weapon ever aimed at a common form of leukemia.
In one trial of 290 patients who were given Glivec for at least six months, 56% enjoyed a powerful response: The drug destroyed most or all of the marrow cells with the defective gene.
In 2006 India refused to grant a patent to Novartis, a Swiss drug giant, for Glivec, a blockbuster cancer drug, saying it was merely a new form of an older medicine.
Glivec appears to shut down proteins regulating cell growth.
In November, NICE denied payment for a higher-than-standard dose of Glivec (Gleevec in the U.S.) for gastrointestinal stromal tumors, although some patients (14%, according to the manufacturer of the drug) would benefit from the higher dosage.
The Swiss pharmaceutical giant has fought a legal battle in India since 2006 to patent a new version of Glivec, which is mainly used to treat leukemia and is known as Gleevec outside India and Europe.
Novartis had argued that it needed a patent to protect its investment in the cancer drug Glivec, while activists said the drug did not merit intellectual property protection in India because it was not a new medicine.
"It is a landmark judgement, " Sakhtivel Selvaraj, a leading Delhi-based health economist, tells me, hours after the Indian Supreme Court's decision to reject a plea by Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis to patent an updated version of its cancer drug, Glivec.
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