India's TB programme: Low cost generics of J&J's MDR-TB drug on the anvil

Indian Patent Office's decision on J&J's bedaquiline came on the eve of World Tuberculosis Day, marked on March 24 every year, to raise public awareness & to boost efforts to end the TB epidemic

India’s tuberculosis eradication programme is set for a boost after the Indian Patent Office rejected the application of American pharma giant Johnson & Johnson to extend its monopoly on a key TB drug – bedaquiline, which is set to expire in July. The drug is considered a key medication against multi-drug resistant TB.

The decision that came on the eve of World Tuberculosis Day - marked on March 24 every year - is going to bring smiles on the faces of TB patients in the country which reported 2.14 million TB patients in 2021, 18 per cent more than the