Delhi High Court Allows Dr. Reddy’s to Export Semaglutide to Non-Patent Countries
The Delhi High Court in Novo Nordisk v. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited & Anr. has refused to grant an immediate stay on an earlier order that allows Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to manufacture and export Semaglutide-based medicines to countries where Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk does not hold patent rights.
A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla was hearing Novo Nordisk’s appeal seeking interim relief against a single judge’s order. The Bench clarified that the earlier order had not rejected Novo Nordisk’s request for an injunction entirely. Instead, it had given limited permission to Dr. Reddy’s to export the drug only to countries where Novo Nordisk does not have a valid patent.
Novo Nordisk argued that even manufacturing the drug amounts to patent infringement. While the court acknowledged this argument, it noted that Dr. Reddy’s has not been allowed to sell the drug in India or export it to countries where Novo Nordisk’s patent is in force. Considering this, the court said the claim of irreparable loss and balance of convenience was weak at this stage and did not justify granting a stay.
The Bench also referred to the single judge’s observations on patent validity. The single judge had compared Novo Nordisk’s patent claims with prior art and found that there appeared to be only one point of difference, which may be obvious to a person skilled in the field. The Division Bench stated that whether the invention is obvious or not requires detailed examination and cannot be decided at the initial stage of hearing.
The court further noted that if the single judge had completely rejected Novo Nordisk’s interim application, it may have considered interference. However, since only limited relief was granted to Dr. Reddy’s, there was no strong reason to intervene at this point.
As a result, the Delhi High Court declined to grant interim relief and instead issued notice in the appeal. The matter has been listed for final hearing.
