India this week allowed Pfizer a patent on its pneumonia vaccine despite opposition by more than one civil society group. But in April, the Delhi High Court had shot down an application from Bayer for extension of patent of a kidney and liver cancer drug, creating space for local companies to produce the medicine at a cost 90 per cent less than the original.
The two examples, with huge implications for health care for countries in the global “south”, are likely to figure at a key meeting of think tanks from these nations. The meeting begins on Thursday in New Delhi.
