Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | India patent regime not about access to medicine: U.S body

India patent regime not about access to medicine: U.S body

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Feb 11, 2014   modified Modified on Feb 11, 2014
-The Hindu


Chennai: With U.S Trade Representative Michael Froman set to announce a trade enforcement action tied to India, the highly influential U.S Chamber of Commerce has lashed out at India's recent pattern of pharma patent denials, pointing out that the country's actions "are not about access to medicine."

In the case of Swiss drug-maker Novartis, whose cancer drug's patent protections were dismissed by the Supreme Court, the chamber has argued that the patent revocation led to the drug actually becoming "more expensive for Indian patients."

The chamber's argument is part of a set of recent recommendations, which were submitted to the office of the U.S trade representative (UTSR). The recommendations are being by trade experts as a pointer to what sectors the USTR's expected trade enforcement actions could affect.

In an indirect jab at India's support towards generic drug-makers, the Global Intellectual Property Centre (GIPC) of the chamber of commerce has pointed out that in many cases, multi-national drug-makers would give away the drug for free.

"In the case of Glivec, Novartis provided the leukaemia drug to 95 per cent of patient population for free. The annual cost for Glivec generic treatment is approximately three to for times the average annual income in India," the chamber said.

Thus, the chamber points out, it is actually "more expensive for Indian patents to obtain access to these medicines after the patent revocation than it was before".

In its submission, the chamber has also asked that India be classified as a ‘priority foreign country'- a tag that is generally given to the worst intellectual property offenders, and is also a classification that could trigger trade sanctions.

It also warns of a possible domino effect, with other countries following India as an example of bad behaviour.

"India's policies are clearly discriminatory, in contravention to their obligations under TRIPS (The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). In addition, other countries such as South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and even China are closely monitoring this new Indian IP model."


The Hindu, 10 February, 2014, http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/india-patent-regime-not-about-access-to-medicine-us-body/article5674425.ece?homepage=true


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close