New Delhi, Dec. 16 -- It is welcome that the Delhi high court has rejected Novo Nordisk's effort to extend its patent on specific formulations of the blockbuster drug semaglutide, sold as Ozempic to treat diabetes and as Wegovy for obesity.

In 2013, India's Supreme Court had set a precedent on patent 'evergreening' by way of offering it in a different form; it dismissed Novartis's claim that its new variant of Glivec (effective against leukemia) deserved a separate patent from its original formulation since it offered better bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy without back-up evidence.

For drugs, India now follows product patents in line with World Trade Organization norms, but does not indulge Big Pharma the way the US and EU ofte...