MSF urges Indian PM to stand firm against Big Pharma’s patent lobbying – FiercePharma
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As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to the U.S. to meet with officials, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has one message for him: Don’t back down on drug patents.
The way the medical charity sees it, India’s patent-busting policies are critical to keeping med prices down. But that’s an unpopular goal with Big Pharma, which has been frustrated time and again by sales-hurting moves in a region it’s tabbed for serious growth. And MSF warned Modi that U.S. officials would try to lobby him over those very moves.
“India’s patent law and practices are favorable to public health, were put in place through a democratic legislative process, and are in line with international trade and intellectual property rules,” MSF’s Meena Narula Ahamed and Unni Karunakara wrote in an op-ed in Foreign Policy. “Every country has the right to set policies that balance private business interests with public health needs.”
Read more – FiercePharma