One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) articulated by the United Nations in 2015 is to “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. India is among the countries that agreed to this sustainable development agenda. Governments, businesses and civil society must combine to mobilise efforts to achieve it by 2030. There is also little doubt that ongoing innovation, both in drugs that cater to unmet medical needs and in the delivery of health services, is essential for achieving the health goal. Fundamental to innovation is a world-class intellectual property system that provides the assurance needed to incentivise research and encourage sustained investment over many years in order to develop new products and technologies. It is important for India to enforce an intellectual property (IP) environment that recognises the value of medicine and rewards innovation.

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