We know that as per the TRIPS agreement, Indian pharma companies are not
allowed to develop cheaper generic copies of drugs that have been approved post
2005 or whose patent has been filed after 1995. It is now seven years since the
implementation of the product patent / TRIPS agreement in India and about 150 NME's/NBE's have been
approved since then. Many of these
NME’s which offer substantial benefits over existing treatments have been launched by MNC’s in India, but due to the price tag,
these drugs remain largely unaffordable for the masses. While complying with the
norms of TRIPS, it is also important to ensure the availability of the best in
class treatments to the needy. A case in point is new treatments of prostate,
renal ,breast cancer, HIV, and diabetes where new drugs that have been approved offer
breakthrough benefits over the older ones. The route of compulsory licensing (CL) has been devised to ensure
the availability of these drugs at affordable prices, but it may not be
effective in the longer run. CL deprives the MNC’s innovators of the
rightful return on the R&D investments and it is likely that if there are
more rulings in favor of Indian generic companies seeking compulsory license to
launch cheaper copies of life saving drugs of MNC pharma, these companies would
opt not to launch these drugs in the Indian market.
Globally the government of respective countries ensure availability of medical treatment to their citizens, and it is due time for the Indian government to take a leap in this direction. They can purchase these life saving drugs from MNC’s at a negotiated price and can provide it to the health care providers in India at subsidized prices.
Globally the government of respective countries ensure availability of medical treatment to their citizens, and it is due time for the Indian government to take a leap in this direction. They can purchase these life saving drugs from MNC’s at a negotiated price and can provide it to the health care providers in India at subsidized prices.
