However, some of the flipsides of VL were pointed out. It is not as cheap and affordable as its generic counterpart from the patient’s point of view. Moreover, there haven’t been any guidelines for VL in the absence of a patent. Guest Speaker 4: Dr. Reji K. Joseph, Associate Professor, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi. Dr. Joseph explained how the economic reforms have impacted local manufacturing and pricing of drugs in India. He drew the timeline of India’s shift from being drug deficit in 1947 to becoming a drug exporter nation by the 80s due to some major policy interventions. Then, he went on to explain the impact of liberalization measures in the pharmaceutical companies post Structural Adjustments in 1990s. As a result there were changes in the patent regime. Post the new regime, exports and imports increased, but the exports outpaced the imports and India became the 14th largest exporter of pharmaceuticals. However, the increase was due to increase in formulations as compared to bulk drugs. Rather, there has been a decline in production of bulk drugs and India depends on imports for these. There is significant dependence on imports for drug ingredients; substantial imports are from China. For some drugs like Ampicillin and ciprofloxacin, dependence is 100 % on China. This involves a huge risk. If China suddenly decides to stop supplies to India, India pharma industry become zero. However, the price of imports have been on the decline but it hasn’t been transferred to the users. Moreover, in a cost based price control system, transfer pricing options might have encouraged import.
However, some of the flipsides of VL were pointed out. It is not as cheap and affordable as its generic counterpart from the patient’s point of view. Moreover, there haven’t been any guidelines for VL in the absence of a patent. Guest Speaker 4: Dr. Reji K. Joseph, Associate Professor, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi. Dr. Joseph explained how the economic reforms have impacted local manufacturing and pricing of drugs in India. He drew the timeline of India’s shift from being drug deficit in 1947 to becoming a drug exporter nation by the 80s due to some major policy interventions. Then, he went on to explain the impact of liberalization measures in the pharmaceutical companies post Structural Adjustments in 1990s. As a result there were changes in the patent regime. Post the new regime, exports and imports increased, but the exports outpaced the imports and India became the 14th largest exporter of pharmaceuticals. However, the increase was due to increase in formulations as compared to bulk drugs. Rather, there has been a decline in production of bulk drugs and India depends on imports for these. There is significant dependence on imports for drug ingredients; substantial imports are from China. For some drugs like Ampicillin and ciprofloxacin, dependence is 100 % on China. This involves a huge risk. If China suddenly decides to stop supplies to India, India pharma industry become zero. However, the price of imports have been on the decline but it hasn’t been transferred to the users. Moreover, in a cost based price control system, transfer pricing options might have encouraged import.