Sudip Chaudhuri

R&D for development of new drugs for neglected diseases in India

The world pharmaceutical industry dominated by multinational corporations has neglected research for drugs for diseases of poor countries. Introduction of stronger patent protection in India after World Trade Organizations TRIPS agreement has failed to rectify this deficiency despite the substantial increase in R&D activity. In the light of the experience of the Indian private sector and the public-private partnerships initiated in India for the development of new drugs, the paper explores some policy options and suggests the expansion of public-private partnerships to include organisations from other innovative developing countries such as Brazil and China.

Can local producers compete with low-cost imports? A simulation study of pharmaceutical industry in low-income Africa

The industrial policy objective of promoting local production of pharmaceuticals for stimulating economic growth is increasingly appreciated by African governments and internationally. However, questions are widely raised by health policy-makers concerning the ability of Africa-based producers to compete on price with Indian and Chinese imports and, hence, to sustain access to essential medicines for low-income populations. Data are lacking to test this influential critique. This paper uses an innovative methodology to overcome the difficulties of data access within African contexts. The analysis strongly suggests that despite higher costs than Indian producers, pharmaceutical industries in small underdeveloped countries necessarily imply neither higher prices nor unviable production operations. By ensuring sufficient market access for local producers, governments (and by extension Regional Economic Communities) in low-income Africa can promote viable local production without sacrificing the objective of affordability and accessibility.

Pharmaceutical Prices in India

The contribution of India in making patented drugs more affordable has been recognised widely. Though the prices of patented drugs are lower in India, the retail markets suffer from several imperfections. As a result, despite the existence of large number of manufacturers, substantial price differences exist between different brands of the same drug. In India medicines are purchased mainly by the people themselves rather than by the government or through health insurance. Because of limited public health and insurance facilities, access to medicines has been low in India. India has drug price control in some form or the other since 1963. But India adopted a selective approach—while some drugs are under control, competing drugs have been kept out of control. This provided the opportunity to manufacturers to stop or reduce the manufacture and sale of drugs under control and promote the competing ones out of control. After 2005, India has re-introduced product patent protection. MNCs have started selling new patented drugs at exorbitant prices but these are yet to be included under price control. India has been able to restrict product patents by exempting grant of patents under certain conditions. But potentially the more effective instrument of compulsory licensing has remained unutilized in India.

NGOs, Consumer Rights and Access to Essential Medicines: Non-Governmental Public Action in a Low-Income Market Context

If medicines are obtained by a low-income population largely through market exchange, then consumer rights become a key aspect of the right to health, and hence a key aspect of tackling severe injustice and inequality. In Tanzania and India, where market-based access to medicines is dominant, regulation of retail sales is weak. Impoverished consumers lack necessary information about the medicines they are buying. As a result they face, unprotected, dangers of the medicine markets that may include substandard medicines, incomplete treatment, inappropriate and even dangerous treatments, over-priced medicines, worsening impoverishment and/or exclusion for inability to pay, and rising anti-microbial resistance.