U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson criticized India’s recent compulsory license for the anticancer drug Nexaver in a meeting with Indian Minister of Commerce Anand Sharma. A government official told the Economic Times that “Bryson said pharmaceuticals was a competitive area and heavy investments went into R&D every year. Any dilution of the international patent regime was a cause for deep concern for the US.” Sharma insisted that the compulsory license was TRIPS compliant, and that many people in the country had died every year without access to the drug because it was not affordable.
