Drugs Statistics

Emotion tends to override the facts when it comes to patents and concerns of patients. Consider fueled fears when India joined the World Trade Organization in 1995. Many feared the price of medicines could increase access to medicines could be reduced and many Indian pharmaceutical companies could close.

Fifteen years later, those fears proved unfounded: the drug in each category are available at multiple prices, accessibility is clearly independent of patents, and Indian companies have become multinationals and penetrate foreign markets in the world whole.

When India has reinstated the patent protection of IPRs (intellectual property) reforms, many fear it would lead to a decrease in access to medicine and the late entry of generic drugs. Despite the absence of pharmaceutical patents in India for 35 years and some of the lowest prices for medicine in the world, access to medicines in India remains among the lowest in developing countries. In other words, patents have little to do with access to medicines.

While many try to point the finger at drug patents and IPR protection, lack of health financing and health insurance in particular is the real culprit. Limiting the types of innovations that are patent protection, as India does now, will not improve the health of Indians.

small innovations that build on current knowledge are the true backbone and a specific resistance of the pharmaceutical industry. However, Indian laws prohibit certain types of innovations pharmaceutical patent protection, thus discouraging research. Indeed, this policy hurts the most Indian patients.

There are many significant benefits from continued research on existing drugs. For example, drug formulations and delivery systems can be optimized for greater efficiency in India's hot and humid climate. Pediatric formulations could be developed for babies suffering from diseases most often in adults. It could also encourage the development of treatment of diseases prevalent in India - tuberculosis, malaria, filariasis and other tropical diseases - where progress is unfortunately rare.

Innovation, research and protection of patents are essential to the introduction of new drugs on the market. Innovative and effective drugs are inseparable, as the disease rapidly changing, and many have inadequate treatment

Without patent protection, the decline of innovations, such as R & D requires substantial investment. Because of high costs, more and more R & D, only two drugs approved in 10 earning more than the average cost of developing a new drug. The statistics speak for themselves: a new drug discovery cost around $ 138 million in 1975, $ 318 million in 1987 and over 1.3 billion dollars in 2006.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has acknowledged the critical role of innovation at the 97th Indian Science Congress held in Thiruvananthapuram recently: "Our government has declared 2010-20 as the Decade of innovations." We need new solutions in many areas ... health care, energy, urban infrastructure, water management, transport ... The countries must develop an innovation eco-system to stimulate innovation ... and innovative solutions to potential must be nurtured and promptly implemented. "

As we take a look at drug patents on IP day, we must not forget the important role they play in keeping India and the world healthy. With the virus mutates constantly - HIV / AIDS, H1N1, and tuberculosis - incremental innovations are essential for an edge in the war against disease. If all innovations are protected to expand treatment options, millions of patients in India and the world will benefit. At stake are not only patents, but the lives of millions.