Opposing patent application for bedaquiline formulation in India

In an effort to make lifesaving drugs accessible to all people, civil society organisations around the world have worked tirelessly to remove patent barriers on drugs for the treatment of cancer, HIV and hepatitis C. In India, the largest manufacturer of affordable drugs for the developing world, the struggle to scale up access to medicines for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is now at a decisive stage. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and civil society organisations in the country are supporting a patent challenge filed by two TB survivors in order to prevent pharmaceutical corporation Johnson & Johnson (J&J) from extending its monopoly on the core DR-TB drug bedaquiline.