India has managed to etch its name in golden letters yet again by coming up with a vaccination for Zika Virus that has given sleepless nights to every country around the globe. Bharat Biotech, a Hyderabad based company has brought about this breakthrough. However, this is not for the first time that an Indian company has come up with such a breakthrough.
Back in 2001, Cipla gave the world a drug for AIDS at the price of peanuts, at less than a dollar per day. Apart from this, Cipla has successfully produced affordable and qualitative medicines for severe diseases like Hepatitis B and C, Cancer, TB and Asthma. These medicines are available at cheaper rates as compared to the rates of multinational companies producing them. The growing capability for formulation of such essential medicines and vaccinations for deadly diseases has made India a role model. India is working to prevent the abuse that pharmaceutical companies are inflicting regarding patent monopoly.
Recently, Nacto has made a breakthrough by announcing that it would be providing Daclatasvir drug for Hepatitis C to almost 112 developing countries at a very reasonable price. Back in 2013, Sofosbuvir was in headlines because of its price that was calculated to be 67 times than the price of gold. India again came to rescue by producing a drug with combination of Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir for Hepatitis C that is available at just $700. A recent study establishes that with the help of new technology, the prices of this drug are expected to come down further.
Developed European countries like France and Spain who have the monopoly of these patents sell the drugs at a comparatively higher price, and companies from the under-developed countries sell these drugs at half the prices. The glaring difference in prices does not end here. The same drugs are sold in Brazil or South Africa at 3rd or 5th of their price in USA whereas, India sells these drugs at 1/100th of the price.
The main reason why India is able to sell the drugs at a marginally cheaper rate is because of the patent rule applicable in India. Section 3 (D) forbids the multinational companies from extending the patent period even if there have been improvements in the same drug. Apart from this, Indian Courts have also played a major role in keeping a check on patents. Indian Courts have made it mandatory for the drugs to be sold at a lower price so that the general public can have access to them. Due to this many pharmaceutical companies like Cipla, Ranbaxy and Natco are launching generic versions of patents under which the companies will test the validity of patents that are granted to companies.
Moreover, Indian government also grants compulsory license to drug manufacturers who produce affordable drugs. However, since 2012 only Natco has been given a compulsory license so that it may sell Sorafenib which is used to treat Kidney and Liver Cancer. The decision was held by the Hon’able Supreme Court in December 2014 as it was expected to bring the price down by 97%.
News Source: Times of India
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