The pharmaceutical industry presents one of India’s most successful stories of economic expansion and improvements in public health. Indian firms have made access to quality medicines possible and affordable in many developing countries.  Indian pharmaceuticals are also exported on a large scale to the United States and other highly regulated markets. A wave of mergers, acquisitions and tie-ups point to growing integration between Indian firms and global pharma multinationals.

The Politics of the Pharmaceutical Industry and Access to Medicines: World Pharmacy and India examines this important industry from different economic, social and political perspectives. Topics covered include the implications of TRIPS-compliant intellectual property rights, the role of flexibilities under TRIPS, the market regulation system, the role of Indian firms in exporting HIV/AIDS medications to Africa, the issue of free trade agreements, the power and reach of foreign pharmaceutical multinationals in India’s domestic market, and the sustainability of India as a major generics supplier.

1. The Politics of the Pharmaceutical Industry and Access to Medicines - Hans Löfgren
2. Challenges of Regulation of Medicines in India -  S. Srinivasan & Anant Phadke
3. CIPLA: Patients before Patents -  Neelam Raaj
4. Systemic Failure of Regulation: The Political Economy of Pharmaceutical and Bulk Drug Manufacturing - G. Vijay
5. TRIPS Flexibilities and Access to Patented Medicines in India -  Narayanan Lalitha
6. India’s Free Trade Agreements : Implications for Access to Medicines in India and the Global South - Kajal Bhardwaj
7. At any price? Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer HealthCare and Baxter in India -  Christiane Fischer and Claudia Jenkes
8. Trends and Prospects for India as a Global Generic Player -  Deepak Kumar Jena & Poduri Balaram
9. The Indian Patent Law and Access to Antiretroviral Drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa -  Christiane Fischer
10. Accessing Medicines in Developing Economies  -  Tu Thanh Nguyen
11. The Politics of AIDS Treatment in Brazil -  André de Mello e Souza
12. Financing Pharmaceutical Research and Development: Alternatives to the Patent System - Philip Soos and Hans Lofgren 
13. Post-script - Hans Löfgren

“... this extremely well written and edited  book deals  with the  threats  and challenges related to  access to pharmaceuticals at  national and global level  eg TRIPS plus agendas, ACTA , FTAs  in the  time to  come.  It is a  must read for those dealing with public  policies, public health, access to  medicines,   equity in  health  in  India and in developing countries”

Dr Mira Shiva, M.D.
Health Action International ( Asia Pacific ) and Peoples Health Movement

“.... The authors are well informed, and several are themselves personally engaged in the litigation or policy debates they describe. The Book provides a useful report on many different initiatives and controversies, presenting relevant facts and a number of shrewd insights. The strongest parts of the book are the detailed reports on counties or regions, several of which focus on India — the most important country as regards the global supply of generic medicines. I learned a great deal from each chapter of the book.”

James Love
Director, Knowledge Ecology International, Washington