The drug mantra

The whole world may be excited and applauding India’s move to allow compulsory licensing on expensive anti-cancer drugs, bringing down their prices significantly, but those in government considering more such approvals already appear to be bored with the whole issue. Discussing three more drugs under consideration for compulsory licensing, an official in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said, “I am quite bored of talking about compulsory licensing now. I feel like a priest at a wedding ceremony chanting the same mantras again and again.” It is for the companies to feel excited about it, he added, and not the government.