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TIMES NEWS NETWORK US misuses compulsory licences: Sikka Issues pertaining to trade related intellectual property rights and the pharmaceutical sector continue to hang fire even as a medical emergency surfaces over a new pneumonia strain. Umesh Anand spoke to Harinder Sikka, senior president of Nicholas Piramal, who recently returned from an important interaction at Stanford, on issues that have ranged the US against much of the world.
You recently made a presentation on intellectual property at Stanford. Are perceptions in the developed world changing? I was surprised to note the concern shown by Stanford law faculty on this burning issue. I was simultaneously amazed to see how little they knew about the problems faced by developing countries. The US worries about the Indian pharma industry’s possible misuse of compulsory licences for drugs. But let me tell you that it is the US, which has come up with the largest number of compulsory licences. It does all it can to protect its markets. The Stanford faculty appreciated the vital importance of all developing countries coming up with pro-competitive solutions for patented drugs to ensure availability of life-saving medicines at affordable prices.
Is the new pneumonia strain taking lives across the world a case in point? The new pneumonia strain is most definitely a case in point because unknown diseases like it may come up unexpectedly. It is of vital importance that the definition is kept broad so that it allows all countries sufficient freedom to tackle similar situations. Is there a contradiction in the Indian pharma industry seeking a social content in IPR when businesses should be driven by profits? The Indian pharma industry is keenly interested in strengthening IPRs. However, industry strongly believes that since TRIPS does not define national emergency, it should be left to each country to judiciously use the provisions of compulsory licensing, primarily because its main aim is to make life saving drugs and technology available to developing nations at affordable costs. Diseases, particularly those that cause public health upheavals, are social in nature. The problem with TRIPS, in its present form, is that it only favours IPRs and not technology transfer. Where do you see the Indian pharmaceutical industry five years on from now? There are going to be increased number of research centres. Given that the finance minister has equated the pharma industry with IT, in the long term it would kickstart R&D and growth in biotechnology. To achieve this, however, the government must change the drug regulatory infrastructure and create strong, open and transparent legislation at par with the US. And, the Indian pharma industry must evolve from “copying’’ to “innovating’’. It needs to focus on branding and marketing. |