-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today agreed to take up "as early as possible" a plea challenging a recent NDA government decision that is alleged to have paved the way for a sharp rise in the prices of life-saving drugs. Petitioner Manohar Lal Sharma, a lawyer, has demanded a CBI probe into a September 22 government order that he says frees a list of medicines from pricing control. His public interest plea alleges...

-DNA The Union government decision to decontrol prices of 108 drugs -- used to treat tuberculosis, AIDS, diabetes and heart ailments -- has jacked up their prices. In some cases, prices have seen an unbelievable rise. The price of Glivec, an anti-cancer tablet, for example, has risen from Rs 8,500 to Rs 1.08 lakh. Plavix, used to treat blood pressure and heart ailments, will cost Rs 1,615, against the earlier Rs 147. An...

-The Indian Express Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit is likely to throw up highly contentious intellectual property rights issues. Indeed, for the last several years, US drug majors and their European counterparts have lobbied hard to demonise the Indian patent regime. But the government must continue to defend the law and stand its ground. Particularly since our own industrial moguls have caved in and are less vocal about their opposition...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: In a move that will disappoint many patients, the government has withdrawn certain powers of the drug pricing regulator that allowed it to cap prices of widely prescribed anti-diabetes, cancer, HIV, tuberculosis and cardiac medicines. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said it is withdrawing "with immediate effect" - a guideline that had allowed it to put price caps on crucial medicines - to comply with a...

-The Business Standard A ray of hope for Indian generic drug makers Gilead Sciences, the California-headquartered biotechnology company, has authorised seven India-based drug makers - Cipla, Ranbaxy, Mylan, Strides Arcolab, Hetero, Cadila Healthcare and Sequent Scientific - to manufacture and sell the generic versions of its hepatitis C medicine, Sovaldi, in 91 developing countries. Earlier in the week, Lupin, the fourth largest Indian drug maker, announced that it will develop and supply...