Pharmaceutical Patenting

In a recent report by the Guardian, it was revealed that leaked documents showed lobbying proposals to delay laws that would allow fast introduction of generic medicines in South Africa. Shockingly, this means patents on breakthrough (read recently discovered medicine) drugs could be halted, but for what? If the changes to the new intellectual property law take place, this could be a definite reality, warns the Guardian. Drug companies in South Africa have been accused of planning a covert, well-funded campaign to delay the introduction of laws that threaten their profits. Leaked documents show that pharmaceutical companies planned a $450,000 campaign, involving a high-profile consultancy based in Washington, DC, against changes to intellectual property laws that would enable their pat...