Bedaquiline

Context:  Recently, the primary patent of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, over bedaquiline expired.

• As a result, Indian manufacturers will now be able to supply generic versions of bedaquiline.

About Bedaquiline:

• Bedaquiline is a medication used in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). 
• It is an antibiotic that targets the bacteria responsible for TB and is considered a cornerstone of DR-TB treatment.

Drug-Resistant TB:

• Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a form of tuberculosis (TB) caused by bacteria that are resistant to one or more of the standard anti-TB drugs.
• Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Burden of Drug-resistant TB: 

• Each year, nearly half a million people develop drug-resistant TB and nearly 10.4 million people develop drug-sensitive TB.
• One-third of the world’s population has latent TB, a version of the disease that can turn active as immunity falls.
• Nearly 2.8 million patients live in India making it a national public health emergency.

What happens when a Patent over a Medicine Expires? When a patent over a medicine expires, it means that the exclusive rights granted to the original developer (usually a pharmaceutical company) to produce and sell that medicine are no longer in effect. As a result, other manufacturers can now produce and sell generic versions of the medicine. Generic Versions of Medicine: Generic versions of medicine are identical copies of brand-name drugs that have the same active ingredients. These are produced after the patent protection on the original brand-name drug has expired.

News Source: The Hindu