The Hindu Business Line : Issues should have been sorted out, feel drug cos

THE alarm bells sounded yesterday by the domestic pharmaceutical industry fell silent today with the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) executive body deciding on Friday to delay a decision on access to cheaper drugs for poor nations as agreed earlier by its top negotiating body.

But with the big fight on the issue of access to cheaper drugs shifting to Cancun - top brass of the pharma industry feel that the issue should have been negotiated and got out of the way so that the WTO ministerial at Cancun next month could move forward.

While last evening it appeared that the WTO executive body was poised to sign a deal that would allow inexpensive drugs to other developing nations, a section of the Indian pharma industry felt that the safeguards that the developed nations sought would in fact put a spanner in the works.

Mr D.G.Shah, Secretary-General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, told Business Line said that if yesterday's deal had come through, it would have raised the Trips Council to be a parallel dispute settlement body and this would have made the environment "unworkable" for generic pharma companies.

"If any country made a frivolous complaints against a generic company, the onus would be on the latter to sort out the allegation. And if a generic company had to set aside for such contingencies, the price of the medicines given to under developed countries would increase, thus defeating the original purpose of the deal."

Further, on the issue of compulsory licensing, he said companies would have to take a prior approval from the TRIPs Council, and this would result in red tapism.

"Indian pharma companies are better off without such a deal," he feels.

Mr Ranjit Shahani, President, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), said that if the agreement had been reached, it would have achieved critical humanitarian objectives by ensuring access to medicines for patients in the world's poorest nations. It would have supported innovation - ensuring that pharmaceutical companies would continue to be able to discover and develop new treatments needed by patients everywhere.

It would have also provided an assurance that medicines destined for the poorest countries would not have been diverted into developed country markets for commercial use and all WTO members would rely on the best practice guidelines enumerated in the Chairman's letter to prevent drug diversion, he said.

"This agreement would have demonstrated that the WTO can deal effectively with humanitarian issues and would have provided momentum for aggressive effort to advance trade liberalisation and economic prosperity in the upcoming Cancun Ministerial meeting," he added.

Mr Harinder Sikka, Senior Representative, Nicholas Piramal India Ltd, said that Indian companies would not have been adversely affected even if the deal had come through, as the spirit of the Doha Declaration would be maintained as it has been agreed upon in principle.

"Research oriented companies are only ensuring their Intellectual Property Rights are protected. As for invoking compulsory licensing, companies have to only notify the TRIPS Council. The fears regarding taking an approval, prior to exporting to an under developed country, are unfounded. Domestic pharma companies should not be seen as profiteers."

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Issues should have been sorted out, feel drug cos