The multinational pharma companies have renewed their interest of doing R&D business with India as the country has its IPR regime in place now. New countries like Japan are also showing an interest to tie up with reputed Indian companies, in the areas of new molecular research, says experts, who spoke at the Chemtech Foundation organized 'Pharma 2005 International Conference,' in Mumbai.
Dr. Toshi Hiko Kobayashi, executive director, The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, was of the opinion that more Japanese companies are showing interest towards partnering with Indian companies for R&D now, after India has complied with product patent regime. "There should be more of scientist exchange programmes between Japan and India. I see more Japanese companies investing in the area of manufacturing and R&D in future," he said. The R&D will be in the areas of product, process and clinical research.
Along with molecule research, India is also going to be a hotbed for clinical research. Experts like Dr. Francis Crawley, secretary general, European Forum for Good Clinical Practice, saw India becoming a hub for conducting clinical trials. However, he stressed over the need to set up GCP based on the pillars of ethics, science, quality, education, and industry. Dr. Crawley also advocated setting up of 'a place to meet,' where different sectors and disciplines involved in clinical trials could come and share experiences, helping a continuous evolution of the procedures involved.
More than ever, MNCs now are on the look out of out-licensing deals for the molecules developed by Indian companies, said Dr. Ravi Sodha, Head, Business Development & Licensing, India, Novartis AG. "The reason for shifting me from Basel to Mumbai, indicates that the company is seriously looking at working out good out-licensing deals from Indian companies. Novartis has a history of molecule outlicensing from companies like Dr. Reddy's and Torrent," he said.
Enforcement of a strong patent infrastructure is the need of the hour for attracting more international investments, said noted patent expert, Dr. Prabuddha Ganguli. Likewise, India can stand on its feet in the field of innovation, only through encouraging innovation. One way of doing this is to convey the significance of patent education in Indian academic circles. India will remain a copycat country, until and unless the Indian academic institutions develop the culture to encourage innovation, and above all patent promising innovations, he said.
He gave the example of IIT Bombay, (which had only few patents to its credit), filed 45 patent applications in the last 30 months after a proper patent filing system was set up under his guidance. He stressed upon the need to follow government-industry-academia interaction.
Few faces were not sure whether product patent implementation would bring advantage or disadvantage to the indigenous industry. Yogin Majmudar, immediate past president of IDMA cited the example of the fading away of Italian bulk drug industry after it endorsed a product patent regime in 1980. "Before 1971, MNCs controlled the pharmaceutical market of the country, claiming high prices for their products. I hope the same situation will not be repeated in the coming years," said Majmudar.