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The cost of medicines in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world. Over the last forty years, Bangladesh, a Least Developed Country (LDC), has nurtured a local industry based on strong industrial policy and a pharmaceutical patent-free system. Of the 46 LDCs in the world, it is the only one to have a thriving industry of this kind. In this paper, we explore how a relatively poor LDC managed to take on the dominance of MNCs in the global production of pharmaceuticals. We focus on the 1982 National Drug Policy (NDP) which transformed the pharmaceutical sector in Bangladesh from one in which three-quarters of drugs were supplied by just eight MNCs to one where almost all domestic demand is met by local industry. The thriving local pharmaceutical industry also exports generic medicines to 147 different countries. In 2026, Bangladesh is due to graduate to 'Developing Country' status, at which time, as a member of the WTO, Bangladesh will have to abide by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Under TRIPS it will have to change its patent regime to allow for the registration of pharmaceutical patents by 2029. Using interview data with key Bangladeshi experts, we argue that TRIPS compliance could potentially wipe out this flourishing local pharmaceutical industry, leading to steep increases in the cost of essential medicines, with dire implications for the right to health. We explore policy options open to the Bangladesh government to protect affordable drugs in the country, in particular protection for the production of domestic generics in a post-TRIPS environment. We also argue that there are ways in which Bangladesh and India could co-operate to protect the affordability of high-quality medicines for domestic and international markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fabrication of high-efficiency solution-processable perovskite solar cells has been achieved using mesostructured films and compact titanium dioxide (TiO2) layers in a process that involves high temperatures and cost. Here, we present an efficient approach for fabricating chemical-bath-deposited, low-temperature, and low-cost amorphous compact TiOx-based planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells by one-step and two-step coatings of the perovskite layer. We also investigate the effect of the number of perovskite coating steps on the compact TiOx layer. The grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering technique is used to clarify the relationship between morphology, crystallinity, and photovoltaic properties of the resulting devices. Analysis of the films revealed that one-step spin-coating of perovskite exhibited an enhancement of film quality and crystallization that correlates to photovoltaic performance 1.5 times higher than that of a two-step-coated device. Our findings show that the resulting morphology, crystallinity, and device performances are strongly dependent on the number of coating steps of the perovskite thin layer on the compact TiOx layer. This result is useful knowledge for the low-cost production of planar perovskite solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cesium iodide (CsI) is attracting attention as a substitute for organic materials such as CH3NH3I. In this work, we fabricated sequential-vacuum-deposited planar heterojunction (PHJ) cesium lead iodide (CsPbI3) perovskite solar cells with enhanced efficiencies by varying the annealing time (0.5, 1, 5, and 10 min). The effect of performance enhancement was investigated as a function of varying annealing time at 350 °C employing a hot plate. The best-performing device was obtained with an annealing time of 1 min, delivered photocurrent density (JSC) of 12.06 mA/cm2, voltage (VOC) of 0.71 V, and fill factor (FF) of 0.67, leading to a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.71% at standard AM 1.5G solar illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid organic/inorganic perovskites such as methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) are potential candidates for thin-film photovoltaics because of their excellent cost- and energy-efficient light absorption. In this work, we have prepared CH3NH3PbI3 nanoparticles (NPs) on the TiOx/ITO glass substrates by a simple spin-coating method to control the size and shape of NPs. The effect of varying the weight percentage (wt %) of ionic liquid (IL) has also been investigated. Analysis of the films revealed spherical NP morphology in the presence of 1, 3, and 7 wt % IL with respective diameters of 540, 350, and 600 nm. Conversely, 10 wt % IL resulted in irregular aggregation of NP blocks. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) changed upon varying the NP size, shape, and morphology. The optimization of the concentration with 3 wt % IL yielded NPs with the most uniform shape, size, and morphology and, consequently, the maximum PCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]