Brain League, the Intellectual Property (IP) company serving national and global markets, sees that many developing countries could follow India model in enacting tough drug patent laws.

The Supreme Court’s decision on the patentability of Novartis’ Glivec, the incrementally improved version of the cancer drug, adds fuel to the globally growing debate on controlling the prices of essential medicines. The decision is largely seen as a victory to the developing world where manufacture of cheaper  drugs is a priority. India's decision on Glivec has certainly made a deep impact on  the pharmaceutical market globally. Even developing countries are seriously looking at India's decision, Arun K Narasani, CEO and co-founder, Brain League IP Services, told Pharmabiz.

Further, as the cheaper drugs will become available, the developing world will be dependent on India for supply of these affordable versions, he added.

“The SC decision augurs well for Indian pharma industry in the short-term. It also  sets the standard for patentability for drugs. The higher standard to obtain drug patents in India is evident from the fact that the ‘new’ drug based on incremental changes led to Glivec being deemed as not worthy of exclusive rights although  this drug received patents in 38 countries including US, Russia, and China. Therefore ‘ever-greening’ will be a tougher proposition to practice in India, and more essential drugs will be out of patent protection sooner,” he said.

The positive aspect is that Indian generic drug companies can tap global business opportunities. Although the SC move would not affect the Indian industry to produce new blockbuster drugs, but acceleration in process innovation needs to be ensured, noted Narasani.

On the flip side, there is an increased financial pressure on blockbuster drug manufacturers. These companies experiencing decline in sales in the developed markets and are looking at developing countries to continue their dominance. The   combined effect could be that global pharma will not be able to sustain monopoly and this would lead them to slash R&D investments to maintain profits. This in turn would result in slow down of overall innovation in drug development, he said.

Seeing the benefits of the recent patent judgement, developing countries could follow India in enacting laws that will make it tougher to obtain patents for drugs, especially the incrementally modified ones. However, the success for India is seen in the near-term but could haunt companies in the long-term because it has the potential to impact the way the global pharmaceutical market functions. The  consequence of the patent decision combined with the global economic situation could bring about major transformation in the way global pharmaceutical companies could go about their business, stated the Brain League chief.