Jammu, April 12 -- Should not a medicine (Remdesivir) that has shown lifesaving effect in certain cases of Covid-19 be made available to all those who need it without delay? Even if Big Pharma has a patent, there are provisions in the global trade treaties that allow governments to issue compulsory licenses to such a lifesaving drug, and keep people over profit. This is why medical experts are demanding governments to use compulsory licensing for generic production of such a drug to help save lives.
Compulsory licensing is one of the key public health and social justice safeguards that allows governments to use, produce, and import or export patented technologies in the public interest.
When confronted with intellectual property barriers ...