India's Supreme Court denied Novartis's request for patent protection for its Gleevec cancer treatment, allowing the nation's generic drugmakers to continue selling low-cost copies. Big Pharma decried the ruling as an assault on intellectual property, while nonprofit groups praised it for expanding access to medicines. The court upheld a 2006 ruling that found the drug violated a provision of Indian law that prohibits so-called evergreening-when companies tweak a drug's chemical makeup, without real medical benefit, to extend its patent life. Gleevec, used to treat a deadly blood cancer, was Novartis's top global seller last year with sales of $4.7 billion.
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机译：印度最高法院驳回了诺华对其格列卫（Gleevec）癌症治疗申请专利保护的请求，这使该国的非专利药生产商能够继续销售低成本的仿制药。 Big Pharma谴责该裁决是对知识产权的侵犯，而非营利组织则称赞该裁决扩大了药品的获取范围。法院维持2006年的一项裁决，裁定该药物违反了印度法律的一项规定，即禁止公司在没有实际医疗利益的情况下调整药物的化学成分以延长其专利寿命时禁止所谓的常绿。用于治疗致命性血液癌的格列卫（Gleevec）去年是诺华全球销售额最大的药物，销售额达47亿美元。
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