Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche was granted patent protection in India for the key hepatitis C drug, Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a), in 2006. But Roche prices the drug at 870,000 rupees ($15,700) per person, per year.
‘One client had to sell his property and his wife’s jewellery just to get the medicine for a year,’ says Eldred. ‘Most don’t have anything to sell; they are on the streets. The frustrating thing is it could be made for around one-twentieth of the price if it were allowed.’
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