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HUMANSCAPE
01 JUN 2005
Legal weapon of the drug lords
The new patent law passed by Parliament this year is a killer-it's going to put a lot of medicines out of the reach of the common man and take many lives The new patent law passed by Parliament in March monopoly rights for a number of years, to produce, import 2005, in the face of protests by several people's and market the product. Under the process patent regime, health organisations, is goingto have a catastrophic others are allowed to manufacture the same product by a effect on the people, pushing up costs of medicines different process. The resultant competition depresses the manifold. Before enacting the law, the government did cost of the product to the consumer.
not inform the people about its effects. Unfortunately, From 1911 to 1970, when India allowed product most people including doctors, are not aware of its patents, 85 per cent of the medicines available here were produced and distributed by the Multi National The government pleaded helplessness in view of Corporations (MNCs). The prices of drugs were among India's obligation under the World Trade Organization the highest in the world. With the 1970 Patent Law, India (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of switched to the process patent regime. Many Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The fact is that the pharmaceutical companies were nurtured in this new law goes much beyond what is essential under TRIPS, environment and India had the lowest drug prices in the to the great detriment of our people.
Lok Raj Sangathan (LRS), the Centre for Enquiry into However, this doesn't mean that Indians could afford Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT) and the Lawyers' new drugs. Innumerable people in our country die every Collective jointly organized a seminar on April 30, 2005, year because they cannot afford medical treatment.
in Mumbai. Narendra Zaveri, a lawyer who is an authority Nevertheless, with the fall in drug prices after the 1970 on patent law, described the manner in which a number law, India became the source of cheap drugs for poor of suggestions to safeguard the rights of people were countries—our drugs for HIV/AIDS were sold in Africa at l/20th the price of multi-nationals.
The new patent law was literally pushed through at •What happens when countries switch to product
the last moment without discussion. Curiously, the present patents?
law overturned several suggestions by parliamentary Wherever product patents have been introduced in the committees on the issue. Earlier, at least 70 amendments world, the prices of medicines have multiplied. For had been incorporated in the Indian Patent Law 1995 and instance, Italy was once one of the largest and cheapest 1999 to make it compliant with WTO/TRIPS stipulations.
drug manufacturers in the world, but when it introduced The only one remaining was the change from process to product patents, it became the largest importer of drugs product patents for pharmaceuticals. Instead of doing this, and the prices of drugs climbed up. Pakistan, a country 72 clauses were changed, out of which 40 to 45 clauses comparable to India, follows a product patent regime and the cost of all medicines including Zaveri raised a number of important issues. What was the urgency in passing this bill? Why this secrecy? Who life-saving drugs is several times
drafted the bill? How come there are so many clauses that facilitate and favor only MNCs (multi national corporations)? How come the UPA government took it upon itself to see through a bill that was a verbatim copy of the bill piloted by NDA in March 2004? From April till December 2004, there was no talk about the bill. Why was it then pushed through hastily without any discussion or debate, even with reference to the parliament Here's a ready reckoner:
•From process to product patents regime -
what's the difference?
in Indonesia, 48 times more in England and 103 times billion. About six multi-nationals dominate it in most more in USA, where product patents are permitted. Any parts of the world. The pharmaceutical companies use product patents to protect their monopoly and profits.
What happens to research for better drugs?
The prices of drugs have no correlation with their cost Monopolies created by patent rights lead to enormous of production. Pharmaceutical companies claim that centralisation of R&D among a few global players. When they require protection of product patent and high a few MNCs in the US and Europe are going to determine prices to support their large expenditure on R&D to the research priorities for the whole world, it is drugs like Viagra that will continue to be researched and Actually, the marketing and administration propagated. The MNCs are not interested in producing expenditure of pharmaceutical companies is many times drugs needed by poor people—like drugs for Malaria, more than what they spend on R&D. Glaxo-Wellcome T.B., Kala Azar, Cholera, Typhoid, etc. Hence, they would spent 14.6% of sales on R&D but its marketing not be interested in doing research on such drugs. New expenditure was 35.2% of sales. Pfizer (one of the largest drugs and pesticides are constantly needed as the germs pharmaceutical companies worldwide) spent 17.1% of and pests rapidly develop immunity against the old ones.
sales on R&D while its marketing expenditure was 39.2% Currently, half a million Indian people die of of sales turnover. A World Bank study estimated the total tuberculosis—a disease that can be treated by over a dozen R&D expenditure of the drug industry at US$ 70-90 drugs—-because drugs are unaffordable. Now, they will billion. Taxpayers fund nearly half of the R&D be deprived of the benefits of advances in research as expenditure as a large part of the research is done in new, better drugs with fewer side-effects will go further universities and national labs. In pharmaceutical out of their reach. The same will be true of other new companies, research is conducted more to create monopoly to charge exorbitant prices.
The ill-effects of the new patent regime are already Irrespective of the conditionalities of WTO or any evident. Based on exclusive marketing rights (EMR) other international forum, the government must take the granted under the last amendments to the patent act in responsibility of ensuring the availability of medicines at 2000, Novartis, a drug MNC, brought a stay on the affordable prices for the people of the country. If the Patent generic manufacturers in India producing the equivalent Law just enacted has to be scrapped only to achieve this of Gleevec, the most effective drug for a type of leukemia. Earlier, a course of one month cost Rs. 8,000- 10,000. Now Novartis charges Rs. 1,20,000 per month Sunita Singh works for CEHAT as research officer
for Gleevec. As a result, many leukemia patients in and Sanjeewani Jain (9821139348) is an activist of
the country are dying today because they can no longer Lok Raj Sangathan (LRS). Contact them if you are
interested in the campaign for affordable medicines
How do product patents help the MNCs?
(Sunita Singh:9821701569;
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most sunita _singh@rediffmaiLcom, Sanjeewani Jain
profitable with a global turnover of over US$ 350 (9821139348); [email protected])
The health 'industry": some important facts The health industry is the largest industry in Public sector companies, who subsidized the the world; drugs are only a part of this business.
private sector, dominated the Indian drug industry at Allopathic drugs business is of the order of one point. Bulk drugs as well as drug intermediates Rs.25, 000 crores - Rs.26, 000 crores, (1.5 % of GDP) produced by them were supplied to private players at • Rs 10,000 crores are additionally spent on non- With the privatization policy, the public sector drug companies have, for all practical purposes, been s Overall Rs. 1,50, 000 crores (5% to 6 % of GDP)
wiped out, and today, private companies, who are is spent by people on health in India.
global players, control 98 per cent of the drug Indian companies like Dr. Reddy's, Ranbaxy, and CIPLA etc. are MNCs in their own right - 50 % of Under these conditions it is important that public Indian drug production is for the export market.
sector production is revived and it is used to keep the Indian drug production is 8 % by volume of the (presented by Ravi Duggal of CEHAT)

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