-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government may negotiate prices of patented medicines with their manufacturers before allowing pharmaceutical companies to launch them in India. The move, a first of its kind, is also likely to be applied on patented drugs that are already being sold in the country, an official source said. An inter-ministerial committee, evaluating the mechanism to negotiate prices of patented medicines, has recently sought detailed information about...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's patent regulating agency today rejected a US company's patent claim on a drug to treat hepatitis C, raising hopes that generic drug makers could now produce cheaper versions of the medicine. The Indian Patents Controller has denied a patent to sofosbuvir from Gilead, a US biopharmaceutical company that had last year pledged to make the oral drug available in India and 90 other developing countries at $900...

-Down to Earth In a Union budget wish list, civil society organisations call for course correction in policy and improving access to healthcare in India The government's focus on improving health indicators stated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has worked against the aims of universal health coverage, said experts at the National Convention on Union Budget 2015-16 held in Delhi on January 8 and 9. They recommended that the focus must...

-Livemint.com   The interim injunction has been granted till Cipla's application for compulsory licensing of the drug is decided   New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday restrained homegrown generic drug maker Cipla Ltd from making and selling Indacaterol, a drug claimed to be patented by Swiss pharma company Novartis AG. Indacaterol is a respiratory drug used in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and is sold under the brand name Onbrez. Please...

-Economic and Political Weekly The key to improving the quality of healthcare services in India and reducing costs at the same time can be found by enacting legislation which lays down minimum standards of patient care. In the absence of such standards and the reluctance of health insurance companies to standardise either price or quality, healthcare services continue to be expensive and of doubtful quality. Developing standards of patient care by...