Executive Q&A;
"If the Indian government continues to refuse to respect IP,
then it is very likely that multinational drug companies
will not choose to launch new products in India."
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon
evergreening. So the decision not to honor the Gleevec patent was
innovation, and negotiate drug pricing from a position of strength,
consistent with previous court opinions and its stated intentions.
not weakness.
I am concerned about India's willingness to
implement compulsory licensing for certain
drugs. IP is vital for innovation, and the Indian
government must respect it (and protect it) if
it wants India to play on the world life sciences
stage.
I frequently tell Indian compulsory licensing
advocates that there is a big difference
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between the costs of innovation and imitation.
Consequently, India should not frivolously
grant compulsory licensing of multinational
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drugs to Indian generic companies that
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have invested nothing in drug development.
Innovative companies must be compensated
to continue to be able to innovate. Further,
there are lots of avenues open to the Indian
government to subsidize purchasing-price
parity for multinational drugs in India short of
compulsory licensing.
In addition, the Indian government has
completely abdicated its responsibility for
providing access to potentially life-saving drugs
for patients; in India everyone pays out-ofpocket for their drugs. The government should
be buying these drugs at negotiated discounted
prices and providing them to patients. Instead,
Indian companies are looking for loopholes in
trade agreements to induce the government
to declare compulsory licensing for certain
drugs. I think this approach is wrong-headed
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because the quantities of "cheap" drugs that
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will actually be sold in India will be quite small,
and India's reputation as a place where IP is
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protected and innovation can take place will
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be seriously damaged globally.
Unfortunately, the Indian government
continues to attempt to protect its generic drug
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