A bitter pill for Indian drug industry
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Reports coming from across Asia, Africa and the Middle East indicate that a patient may be paying top market prices to buy well-known brands of neomycin eye drops and meningococcal vaccine made of tap water; paracetamol syrup made of industrial solvent; ampicillin consisting of turmeric; contraceptive pills made of wheat flour; and antimalarials, antibiotics and snake antivenom containing no active ingredients. Such fakes are to be differentiated from the cheap knock-offs of well-known global drugs that flood Asia, including India. Such knock-offs are copycat versions of the original medicine, manufactured and sold by non-patent holders, causing a loss of revenue to those who have spent billions of dollars in developing the drug. Since the drug “pirates” - a term popularized by the New York Times in December 2000 - do not spend on research and development, they are also able to market the drug in their country at one-twentieth to one-fifth its price in the Western market. In India, drug pirating is made possible by the existing patents regime. These laws offer protection only for manufacturing processes and not for the products themselves. Besides, protection for process is also available for a period of seven years, unlike in the West, where patent protection is for a period of 20 years. As a result, under existing Indian patent laws, Indian drug companies are well within their rights to reverse-engineer well-known brands and sell them as their creation. More : atimes.com |