| According to a recent report by Icra, India has served as pivotal source for generic ARVs used by HIV/AIDS-affected people. |
| However, the new patent laws prevent the country's generic pharmaceutical industry from manufacturing generic equivalents for drugs patented after 1996. |
| According to estimates, there will be pressure on the people living with HIV/AIDS to move over the second-line ARV drug treatments as they develop resistance to the first-line treatments. |
| The second-line regimens are still out of reach for many people in the country as generic competition from Indian manufacturers is limited and the prices are 6-12 times higher than those of the first-line antiretroviral drugs. |
| The use of TRIPS flexibilities to enable generic competition among second-line regimens could be critical to the world-wide plan to provide universal access to the HIV treatment in the coming years. |
| According to the Icra report, as on December 2005, 80 per cent of those in clinical need of ARVs across the world are not receiving them. |
| In India alone, only around 40,000 are estimated to be receiving the drugs compared with around 0.77 million individuals needing them. |
| Of the 8.3 million HIV-infected persons in Asia, 5.7 million are in India. |
| A minimum of 15 per cent coverage translates into annual sales of around Rs 600-700 million in domestic sales for major players such as Cipla, Ranbaxy and Aurobindo. |
| Due to substantial worldwide initiatives, the number of persons receiving ARVs has increased from 0.4 million in December 2003 to 1.3 million by December 2005. |
| A number of countries have made use of the TRIPS flexibility. However, by granting compulsory licences or the government use of patents. |
| Mozambique and Zambia granted compulsory licences in 2004 to enable the local production of ARVs. |
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