Hyderabad: The Centre’s move to remove patents on new drugs will come as a huge relief to patients but some vital drugs are still under a 20-year-patent rule, forcing patients to pay through their nose for these medicines.
Five per cent of drugs for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory disorders, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and cancer are patented in India. The government has issued notification by the Drug Price Control Order to remove the patents on those medicines which have a 5 year patent. “The biggest drawback in India is that cancer drugs are not easily available. But with the removal of patent, there is hope that these drugs will be easily available,” said the national president of Doctor of Pharmacy, Dr Sai Kumar Katam.
Senior pharmacist Dr S. Sunil said: “The patents for blood cancer drugs are for 20 years. These have put patients in great hardship as each medicine is available for '50,000 to '1 lakh per dose. This requires strong intervention by the government, as some of them have already completed 15 years. Drugs for rare diseases, too, require attention, as they are not easily available and patent on them too must be removed.”
“Patent for drugs is worldwide and the registration for each country is different,” said Dr Katam. “In India, the largest number of patented medicines are anti-cancer drugs and for therapeutic purposes.”
The removal of patents will also pave the way for biosimilars and generic medicines, which can then translate the price factor further.
The pharmaceutical industry in India provides the largest number of generic medicines to the world. The removal of patents will pave the way for innovation and give a chance to make the medicines affordable. Patents exist for the industry to reap the benefits of research, as huge costs are involved in manufacturing drugs. But of late the world community is of the opinion that if innovation is not available and affordable to people it does not help. The present move is to fix and evaluate prices of medicines and improve their affordability so that it can be available in the time of need.
