Time for Indian pharma industry to spend more on R&D, say experts

Indian pharmaceutical industry should wake up to the need of increased spending on research to create new molecules and it is high time to approach patent filing aggressively as done by China and Japan, says Deputy Controller of Patents and Designs K S Kardam. “Our Indian companies are just beginning to realise that they also need an R&D department as merely quality control would not help. Unless spending on R&D is scaled up, it will be difficult to create new molecules. It is time to go for aggressive research and patent filing just like China and Japan,” he said, while addressing a workshop on 'patenting pharmaceuticals in India' here on June 8. The workshop was held by the Drug Information Associates (DIA), India, familiarise industry on the basic theory and practice of IP regimes in an organization and responsibilities involved in IP trade. The event was attended by the policy makers, scientists, academicians, IPR professionals and entrepreneurs. Participants included eminent personalities such as Dr Ramesh Krishnamurti, head, Corporate Patents India, Novo Nordisk, Gabriel Kleiman, assistant general counsel, Pfizer Inc., USA, Raghavendra Lal Saha, former advisor and Head Science & Society Division, National Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), Compliance Monitoring Authority, Patent Facilitating Centre (PFC), TIFAC, Government of India and Krishna Sarma, managing partner, Corporate Law Group, Delhi, India. “The next stage of development for the Indian pharmaceutical sector will definitely lie in the aspect of value creation, for which Intellectual Property becomes indispensable. Over the next few years, it is expected that the patent laws will provide impetus to the launch of patent-protected products. Such products have the potential to capture up to 10 per cent share of the market by 2015, implying the market size of US$ 2bn,” said Krishna Sarma. Gabriel Kleiman, assistant general counsel, Pfizer Inc., USA said, “A patent system is supposed to be about creating more incentives for innovation but it is equally important that innovation reaches to the society.” Source:Pharmabiz