Britain’s trade deal with India is at risk amid a dispute over cheap generic drugs

He said the Indian government was “committed to protecting access to affordable medicines” and would not accept any provision of the trade deal that would make it difficult for generic drug makers to operate in India.

“We are still in negotiations on the trade deal, and it is possible that the UK will drop its patent term extension request,” he said.

More than 120 health and human rights groups and experts wrote to Badenoch this weekend urging it to withdraw proposals that they say could threaten the supply of generic medicines not only to low- and middle-income countries but also globally. .

In their letter, the health experts cited as an example this year’s decision by the Indian patent office to reject an attempt by Johnson & Johnson to extend the patent on its tuberculosis drug Bedaquiline.

“This case opened the door for other companies to produce affordable generic versions of bedaquiline, and some health experts estimate that the cost of treatment could be reduced by up to 80 percent,” said experts from 28 countries, from Italy and Thailand to India and Ghana. and Viet Nam.

They added: “Depriving people of affordable medicines would increase health inequality, as only the wealthiest in our countries could afford these medicines. Furthermore, it would add an additional financial burden to our already stretched healthcare systems.”

Opponents of the UK proposals have warned that they could have a knock-on effect in the UK. Four out of five of the medicines and drugs used in the NHS are generic, of which a third are from India, meaning that about one in four medicines are unbranded Indian versions.

However, officials in Ms Badenoch’s business and commerce department have strongly denied such claims.

“The NHS, its services and the cost of medicines are not and have never been on the table of any commercial agreement. We will never agree to provisions that increase the cost of medicines for our NHS,” a spokesman for the department said.

“The UK’s approach to IP is to strike a balance between fostering innovation and ensuring access to affordable medicines – this hasn’t changed.”

As The Telegraph revealed this week, India also requires more visas for nurses, healthcare workers and IT professionals as the price of a free trade agreement. However, UK ministers have said there will be no special treatment for Indians under the government’s point-based immigration system for skilled workers.