Health groups slammed Indian lawmakers and their communist allies on Wednesday for passing a patents bill, saying it would make drugs more expensive for millions of people suffering from diseases like AIDS.The lower house of parliament passed the bill on Tuesday by a voice vote, a key step towards meeting India’s WTO obligations.The bill, which will become law once approved by the upper house of parliament, will require drug makers to apply for a licence to the government to manufacture patented drugs. They will also have to pay a royalty to patent owners.The old law allowed Indian pharmaceutical firms to copy patented drugs as long as they used a different manufacturing process."The new patent bill gives more rights to patent holders at the expense of generic drug manufacturers. As a result, life-saving drugs would no longer be produced at affordable prices,” global charity campaigner Oxfam said in a statement.
