The government is committed to making India one of the world's leading destinations for end-to-end drug discovery and innovation by 2020. Although India has achieved the distinction of being the world's No. 1 supplier of low-cost generic medicines, in recent years, a toxic brew of misguided government policy and shortsighted business practices has crippled our efforts to become a drug discovery and innovation powerhouse, even while jeopardising our access to foreign markets due to quality issues ..
2013 has been a year with mixed blessings and some policy decisions taken this year are likely to have farreaching impact on the future of the pharmaceutical industry in India. In March this year, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board upheld the compulsory licence (CL) issued for the manufacture and sale of a generic version of Bayer's Nexavar in India citing affordability and product access as the reasons for the decision. While the grant of a CL is justified in a national emergency, broadening the scope to affordability can result in abuse of this provision and be counterproductive to pharmaceutical innovation in India. CL must remain the exception rather than the rule.
On the upside, after much deliberation, the government ruled in favour of 100% foreign direct investment in the pharmaceutical industry. This is a positive move and will allow India to invest in R&D, enhance local capabilities and find solutions to endemic health problems.
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