 In August 2017, Malaysia became the first country in the world to issue a compulsory license for sofas buvir, a breakthrough medication for the treatment of patients with hepatitis C. Sofas buvir, sold under the brand name Sovaldi, has been patented by Gilead Sciences. The decision to grant compulsory license for sofas buvir and make it available in government hospitals was made by Ministry of Health of Malaysia after efforts to include the drug in the medicine patent pool and price negotiations with the patent holder were unsuccessful. Compulsory license is one of the flexibilities provided to countries under TRIPS agreement whereby a government may allow someone else to produce a patented product or process without the consent of the patent owner. This may be invoked adhering to a set of conditions such as national emergencies, other circumstances of extreme urgency, public non-commercial use and anti-competitive practices. Exceptions are made under certain circumstances provided these are clearly set out in a country's national patent law. The use of compulsory license for sofas buvir in Malaysia has enabled increased access to the drug for treatment of hepatitis C at about US$240 for 12 weeks treatment compared to a whopping US$71,000 the cost of Gilead's patented version. This step and the resultant scale-up of hepatitis C treatment in public hospitals is expected to benefit nearly 5 lakh patients in Malaysia. Earlier in 2004 Malaysia had become the first country in Asia to use this flexibility following the adoption of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health in 2001. And also after prolonged failed price negotiations Malaysia issued a compulsory license for HIV AIDS medicines patented by GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol Myers Squibb. This step had reduced the average cost of treatment per month per patient from US$315 to US$58. It had also helped the government increase treatment capacity from 1500 to 4000 patients by reducing cost of three patented medicines. As a result of the issuance of compulsory license, the average cost of treatment per patient per month fell by 68% to 83%. However, with yet another historic step of granting compulsory license for sofas buvir in 2017, Malaysia has come under severe pressure from pharmaceutical companies and their political allies. There has been continuous intimidation by the US industry and government since 2017. It must be noted that compulsory licensing serves as an important cost-containment measure against the exorbitant patented medicines. Moreover, it opens up competition among holders of compulsory licenses bringing the price of a product down, while the patent holder may continue to receive payment in the form of royalty from the compulsory licensee. Thus, although riddled with implementation issues due to commercial and political pressures from corporate patent holders, compulsory licensing still stands as a legitimate means to address public health concerns.