The new draft policy on patented drug pricing puts more emphasis on government regulation.
SHERYL P. DENKER
The Indian government will consider the use of price controls rather than the controversial compulsory license tool to provide affordable medicines for their citizens, according to a draft guidance issued by India’s Department of Pharmaceuticals.
Under a compulsory license, an individual or company seeking to use another’s intellectual property can do so without seeking the rights holder’s consent, and instead pays the rights holder a set fee for the license. Although rarely put into practice, governments in developing countries have issued compulsory licenses to allow local generic drug manufacturers to produce expensive patented drugs without the consent of the patent holder and then sell those drugs to patients for a price that is much cheaper than the original drug.
In the new draft policy on price negotiation for patented drugs, the Department of Pharmaceuticals says that once patented drugs are regulated by government pricing controls, the provision to issue a compulsory license on the basis of not being affordable will no longer be relevant, since the drug’s cost should be considered reasonable at that point.
- See more at: http://www.burrillreport.com/article-india_weighs_price_controls_versus_compulsory_licensing.html#sthash.c3sz9UZg.dpuf
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