The Group of Ministers examining the Patent Bill is to meet on October 25 for giving their final views on the changes that are needed to protect domestic interests within the TRIPS framework. Intense lobbying by both multinational drug companies as well as domestic pharmaceutical industry is known to be going on to influence the GoM. With the Left Parties taking sides with the domestic drug industry, the domestic industry feels confident of their pleas being heard by the GoM.
The GoM on Patents Amendment Bill is headed by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee and includes finance minister P Chidambaram, food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, chemicals and fertilizers minister Ram Vilas Paswan, science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, health and family welfare minister Anbumani Ramdoss and food processing industry minister Subodh Kant Sahay.
The drug industry representatives and associations have already met the individual members in the group and expressed their concerns. The Indian companies are trying to sensitize the government on the need to make necessary changes in the bill in the national interest. "The interests of the Indian consumer and that of domestic industry should be protected. It can not only ensure the availability of low cost life saving medicines, but also enable the domestic industry to compete in the global markets," they feel.
Indian drug majors, represented by Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance in its representation had felt that by not making the amendments, the government was "overlooking an opportunity to make a decisive use of the flexibilities under the TRIPS Agreement."
According to them, the government can minimize the burden on the consumer arising from higher pricing of patented medicines and create the conditions for the domestic industry to become a major player in the global pharmaceutical industry by changing Section 3 and Section 5 of the bill.
The Section 3 of the Act defines inventions that are not patentable. IPA feels that a further exclusion from patentability for new forms of previously patented compounds (polymorphs, metabolites, improved purity or stability, isomers and the like) would ensure that marginal changes or improvements in previously known compounds that merely serve to increase patent life and delay entry of generic would not be patentable.
Similarly, "Section 25 as it stands, provides the right of hearing in pre-grant opposition proceedings. The proposed amendment to Section 25 removes this right of hearing and provides it only post grant. The continuance of the present Act without change would assist the Patent Controller in ensuring that fraudulent, unlawful and frivolous patents are not granted even by mistake. It would also result in timely disposal of the patent applications, as all parties to the dispute would not have any incentive to prolong the matter, IPA had stated.