Today, US President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order aimed at slashing prescription drug prices in the US by up to 80%. Under the new Most Favoured Nation pricing rule, the US will peg its drug prices to the lowest charged in any other country. While the move may offer immediate relief to American patients, it will likely trigger a global price recalibration, with pharmaceutical giants intensifying pressure on lower-cost markets like India to raise their prices by tightening patent laws through trade negotiations.India’s pharmaceutical laws fully comply with the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. However, India has long resisted pressure to adopt additional protections, often pushed by developed countries through free trade agreements. These include exclusive rights over clinical trial data, automatic extensions of patent terms, linkage of patent status to regulatory approval, broader definitions of what qualifies as an invention, and practices that allow the extension of monopolies through minor drug modifications.
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