Overview
- The writ petition seeking a government‑use licence for the breast cancer drug Ribociclib has been listed for final hearing 57 times since January 21, 2023 without a substantive hearing, and the original petitioner died early in the proceedings.
- Pleadings in the Kerala High Court are reported complete after the court continued the matter suo motu and appointed an amicus curiae, with the Union government and drugmakers Novartis and Eli Lilly having filed responses.
- The petition asked the government to use Section 100 of the Patents Act to permit domestic manufacture of generics that advocates say could cost 90–95% less than the patented product.
- The Union government has declined to issue a Section 100 licence on the ground that breast cancer does not constitute a matter of 'national urgency,' a position patient groups say conflicts with the right to health under Article 21.
- A coalition of patient advocates and experts has written to the Chief Justice of India, the President and the Kerala Chief Justice urging immediate administrative steps because a July 15, 2026 hearing is the next opportunity to resolve time‑sensitive access and constitutional questions.