The reduction in customs duty of life saving drugs in the Union Budget 2009-10 has not enthused the members of the Indian biotech industry. They are of the view that the move can mainly help the multinational drug companies.

Import duty on certain specified life saving drugs and their bulk actives and one vaccine has been reduced from 10 to 5 per cent with nil countervailing duty (CVD) by way of excise duty exemption.

These drugs are abatacept: Orencia by BMS for rheumatoid arthritis, daptomycin - antibiotic for gm +ve, Entacevir, an antiviral for hepatitis B, fondaparinux sodium which is an anti coagulant in DVT & pulmonary embolism, influenza vaccine: anti viral, Ixabepilone: breast cancer, lapatinib by GSK for breast cancer, pegaptanib sodium injection: Lucentis of Roche which is an anti VEGF inhibitor for treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), suntinib malate: Sutent of Pfizer for stomach cancer & gastrointestinal stromal tumour, tocilizumab: Actimra by Roche is a humanized monoclonal antibody, which is an immunosuppressant for rheumatoid arthritis -anti IL 6.

"Obviously Roche, GSK and BMS have succeeded in lobbying, while our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Indian companies are investing huge amounts in clinical development and yet unable to satisfy the doctors' demands for more data. If the Government does not provide duty relief then Indian innovation is at a huge disadvantage," Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, head, Vision Group on Biotechnology, government of Karnataka and CMD, Biocon Limited told Pharmabiz.

Biocon, which manufacturers India's first proprietary based BIOMAB EGFR that targets the human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor is a type of protein found on the surface of both normal and cancer cells. It is a therapeutic monoclonal antibody-based drug for treating solid tumours of epithelial origin, which does not find any mention in this list. "We currently pay 10 per cent basic customs duty while we clear this from our Special Economic Zone at Bangalore. The excise duty is zero on this product," she said.

The matter has been taken up with the Association of the Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE). This glaring anomaly has been brought to the attention of the Union ministry of finance for the last 5 years but with no response. In fact, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is also giving multinational companies a clear advantage over indigenous manufacturers. "For instance, in the case of Insulin, MNCs and importers of Insulin are allowed to price their products between 25 to 100 percent more than indigenous producers like Biocon and Wockhardt. This has been pointed out but hardly anything has been done. We intend to continue the efforts until this is rectified," stated Shaw.