Mr. Julien Reinhard
Bern Declaration
Rue de Genève 52
1004 Lausanne
Switzerland


6 February 2007

Re: The Novartis legal case in India regarding Glivec®/Gleevec®

Dear Mr. Reinhard,

As the above legal case progresses in India there has, as you are aware, been much comment regarding the outcome of the case and the whole issue of Access to Medicines in the developing world.

Following the public meeting you organized in Basel on January 26th, I wanted to take this opportunity to send to you the attached open letter which Novartis has prepared regarding this case - in response to the open letter sent to Dr. Vasella by the Bern Declaration.

This letter sets out our rationale for proceeding with the cae, why we think it is an important matter, and that we feel the case will bring clarity to the issue of intellectual property protection in India, and not adversely affect Access to Medicines as some are saying.

We remain open to dialoue on this issue, and are willing to work with all stakeholders - governements and NGOs - to address these wider issues.

Yours sincerely,

Petra Laux
Head of Global Public Affairs
Novartis International AG