Plot to criminalize India’s drug exports

In the month of January 2009, India’s premier drug manufacturer, ‘Dr.Reddy’s Laboratories’, exported a consignment of bulk drugs to Brazil. This consignment was seized and impounded in transit by Dutch customs, on charges of patent infringement.  The consignment, worth about US$500,000, contained the drug ‘Losartan’, which is used mainly to treat high blood pressure. This was a perfectly legal trade transaction, between India and Brazil. There was no patent infringement of any kind or any other violation of any international law or laws of both Brazil and India. In Holland, patent for this drug, is held by ‘DuPont’ under brand name ‘Cozaar’. However, the consignment was not meant for Holland and had not even reached Holland. It was seized in transit to Latin America. This Dutch act therefore just amounted to international Piracy if nothing else