For those who might remember. During the Presidency of George W Bush, there were calls on removing the patents of Bayer's anthrax drug Cipro during the anthrax

For those who might remember. During the Presidency of George W Bush, there were calls on removing the patents of Bayer's anthrax drug Cipro during the anthrax scare: German drugs company Bayer, which makes the anti-anthrax treatment Cipro, has backed moves by the US government to promote rival antibiotics for the disease. The decision, which sent the company's shares down 2%, takes the heat off the US government, which has faced calls to over-ride Bayer's patent by permitting rival companies to make cheaper versions of Cipro. Concern has grown about the availability of treatments, as fears of an anthrax epidemic sweep America. A spokeswoman for Bayer, which plans to step up its production to 200m tablets over the next three months - enough to treat 10-12m people - said the company supported the relabelling of the antibiotic doxycycline as a treatment for all forms of anthrax. "We support this because of the threat to public health," she said. "It has nothing to do with our patent." https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/oct/23/anthrax.businessofresearch https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/oct/23/anthrax.bus...