'Biased? India has a balanced pharma patent regime'

India has a balanced pharmaceutical patent regime in place because it needs to hold the rights and interest of a wide section of consumers who are in need of free medicines, according to Frederick Abbott, professor of international law at the Florida State University.

He also suggested that Indian pharma manufacturers should collaborate with African countries to invest and set up manufacturing facilities there. On India's patent law, Abbott, an Edward Ball Eminent Scholar, told dna, "India and its courts have been doing a very good job in implementing its patent law. From my standpoint, there is relatively little from a practical or factual basis that US multinationals have to complain about. Every time Indian court or its patent office refuses a patent or invalidates a patent, it is treated as if this is some unfriendly act without reason, whereas in the US invalidating pharmaceutical patents are fairly routine."

Abbott said that if examples of three-four patent cases are taken against a country, say India, it creates a "false impression". "I'm very sceptical of the claims that India is not doing a good job on the patent side," he said, adding that if India has been pressured to provide higher level of protection for the US multinationals, it is a way to protect revenue streams.

Comparing the patent laws in India and the US, Abbott said, "India is different in terms of balancing and holding the rights and consumers interest because you have 800 million people living in a relatively (economically) lower situation. The courts, administrative system and the government have to take into account the interest of those people. You have a large growing middle class but you still have a very wide segment of the population who basically need free medicines. And so that's a different situation from the US."

He said that even there is a lot of discussion in the US about how to strike a balance between drugs pricing versus market exclusivity. "We do not really have an answer to that yet in the US, but it will probably be a very significant issue in the coming presidential campaign and forthcoming elections."

Abbott said he's not against patent, but once there is a patent, a company feels as if it can do anything, can charge any price it wants to and the government can't regulate. "They (patents) provide a function for aggregating capital, investors will invest because they see patent protection as a way to protect for investment in innovation and the biotech industry is doing some very good things now and I don't want to discourage them from doing these good things. But I think the mistake the policymakers tend to make is under the influence of lobbyists. Here the government should take a more active role."

Abbott is in India to discuss about possibilities from collaboration of India and Africa. "The African governments are keen to develop the pharmaceutical manufacturing and infrastructure. And so the World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with the governments on how best to do that. India is the major supplier of pharma products to Africa. If India wants to develop manufacturing sector in pharmaceuticals, the question would be the best way to go about it and to what extent. India must have a long-term economic and strategic interest," he said.

According to a latest report by McKinsey & Co, the value of Africa's pharmaceutical industry jumped to $20.8 billion in 2013 from just $4.7 billion a decade earlier. That growth is continuing at a rapid pace and the market is predicted will be worth $40-65 billion by 2020.

India could possibly look at greater collaboration in technical training, support, helping in construction of facilities in joint venture and commercial opportunities.
Abbott said most of the African countries would benefit from India's expertise.

"Both can look into shared investments, shared technology, shared manufacturing. For African manufacturers, most of the procurement is into Indian low-cost, high-quality manufacturing but not investing and producing," he said.