The Supreme Court is expected to rule in April on an appeal by Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics for arbitration in a dispute with Aventis Pharma, a subsidiary of French company Sanofi Aventis, over the marketing of an anti-rabies vaccine.
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Represented by the law firm Parekh & Co, Novartis took its case to the Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court dismissed its arbitration plea. Novartis has alleged that the high court did not consider the “malafide” behaviour of Aventis.
Novartis says it entered into a joint venture with Aventis in April 1998 to establish Chiron Behring Vaccines (CBV) to manufacture a rabies vaccine in India. Novartis held 51% of the venture and Aventis held the remainder. The participants had also signed a marketing and distribution agreement, which was to remain in force for 10 years and would be automatically renewed unless CBV decided to terminate it by giving 18 months’ advance notice.
In September 2006, the CBV board of directors decided against renewing the marketing and distribution agreement but Aventis argued that the termination was invalid. It took its case to the Bombay High Court in 2007 in a bid to overturn CBV’s decision not to renew the agreement. Meanwhile Novartis and CBV filed an application under Section 45 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act seeking arbitration.
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