Patents versus Patients? Antiretroviral Therapy in India

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Abstract
Legislation passed by the government of India rarely draws international attention, let alone global outrage. But in December 2004, to comply with the requirement of the World Trade Organization (which India had joined in 1995) that its member countries adhere to trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs), the president of India issued a patent-amendment ordinance requiring 20-year patents on all new medications. The ordinance went into effect January 1, 2005. Objections were voiced around the world by advocacy groups for patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, who characterized the proposed law as pitting patents against patients. As a result, in March 2005, the Indian Parliament passed a more lenient bill — but one that could still pose major obstacles for access to, and the development of, new generic drugs and that could stimulate lengthy litigation and increase the costs of new drugs substantially, thus threatening recent progress.

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