The Indian subsidiaries of such major pharmaceutical firms as Glaxo (London), Novartis (Basel) and SmithKline Beecham (London) saw their share prices soar on the Bombay market following the Government's announcement at the end of November that it would introduce new patent laws. The new laws, to be introduced before April 1999, will allow companies to hold exclusive marketing rights to a product. However, these marketing rights do not prevent the production and sale of generic versions of drugs in India, and are only the minimum requirement set down by the World Trade Organization (WTO; Geneva), of which India became a member in 1995. The US and EU have pushed India to allow product patents, which would prevent copying of drugs for 20 years. However, according to WTO rules, India does not have to implement this until 2005. The US drug giant, Pfizer (New York), has said it would rather wait until India provides product patents before launching its latest drugs, including Viagra, in India. "We simply cannot compete in a country without patent protection," says Simon Fraser Campbell who recently retired as vice president of the company. "Product patent protection of 20 years is necessary," he says. Until that happens "it is not profitable for Pfizer to market its latest drugs [in India]."