India’s TB patients can finally celebrate the end of Johnson & Johnson’s monopoly disguised as charity

India’s patent office decided to reject pharma giant Johnson &Johnson’s appeal to extend the patent for a life-saving TB medicine called bedaquiline which is used to treat those with drug resistant infections. 

But for a long time before this, Johnson & Johnson was enjoying a monopoly in India. Generic manufacturers could not make this life-saving medicine. The Indian government too, at the time, had decided to protect the pharma giant.

Not just that, Johnson & Johnson was also conveniently projecting itself as a charitable organisation through its health programmes.

What does the Indian govt’s decision mean for TB patients in India now?