While ‘data exclusivity’ clauses will not feature in the India-European Union free trade agreement (FTA), the threat posed by the impending deal to the world’s supply of cheap generic drugs is far from over. India’s commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma assured Michel Sidibe, chief of the United Nations joint programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) at a meeting this week that India would reject attempts by pharmaceutical giants to include...

India’s FTAs pip generic drugs production Lot More For Less     * Generic drugs from India play a major role as Antiretroviral Drugs across the developing world     * A 2010 study says 80% of the medicines used by donor-funded programmes to treat people with HIV were sourced from India     * It’s cut down treatment costs drastically, from $10,000 to $80     * Stronger IP regimes may hamper production of generics *** The right of...

Moves by developed nations such as the United States to tighten intellectual property laws are threatening to limit production and distribution of generic drugs, which experts say have been and will remain key in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and currently account for 80 percent of HIV/AIDS treatment. These efforts are taking shape in two spheres. The first is in discussions on the outcome document that member states are expected...

A row between the EU and India over the transit of generic drugs through Europe has been resolved, negotiators told Reuters news agency.As a result of the deal at an India-EU summit in Brussels, an Indian complaint to the World Trade Organization will be suspended, India's trade minister said.But some fear the free trade agreement (FTA) at the core of the summit will hurt generic drug production.The FTA, one of...

Although new HIV infections show a downward trend in countries of the World Health Organisation's South-East Asia Region, particularly India, Thailand, Nepal and Myanmar, HIV/AIDS is still a serious public health problem. Perhaps the most vulnerable group are children with HIV/AIDS, whose number has increased by 46 per cent between 2001 and 2009. Elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is possible by 2015 and WHO is committed to this goal. On...