The Indian Patent Office is set to issue a landmark ruling over the petition of a local drug manufacturer to allow cheaper generic drugs especially for cancer patients for export to poor countries under the "compulsory license" rule.

The case is attracting interest of giant drug manufacturers across the globe because it could open the floodgates for drug manufacturers to make copies of patented drugs

The number of people buying prescription drugs rose 8.3 percent last year to $274.9 billion, mainly attributed to the Medicare drug benefit, increased use of generic medicines and new treatments for diseases such as cancer and diabetes. According to the report released late Thursday by IMS Health, the drug sales growth is however expected to dampen a bit in 2007.

As the Medicare drug benefit is annualized and more generic products enter the market, it is anticipated that the drug sales will remain in a compounded annual rate of between 6 percent and 9 percent through 2010

A new drug called Sutent, has had great results in dramatically delaying the advancement of a rare type of intestinal cancer in patients who have run out of choices due to their tumors outsmarting even the most advanced high-tech drug