Healthy Skepticism Library item: 928
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: news
PhRMA Welcomes Passage of Patent Bill in India
Health Orbit 2005 Mar 23
Full text:
PhRMA members welcome the passage today of India’s Patents Third Amendment Bill, 2005. This legislation is a milestone for the Government of India, re-establishing patent protection for pharmaceutical products in India.
With the passage of this legislation, India has taken an important step toward complying with its obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). However, America’s research-based pharmaceutical industry does remain concerned about a number of late amendments to the bill that may bring India into conflict with its minimum international obligations.
“We recognize the importance of this historic vote and are pleased that India has taken the necessary legislative steps to provide patent protection for pharmaceutical products in Indian law. This is good for India, and good for Indian patients,” said PhRMA president and CEO Billy Tauzin. “We are now measuring the impact on the overall bill of several last-minute amendments,” he added.
When India joined the WTO in 1994, it agreed to implement patent protection for pharmaceutical products, among a range of patent protections included in the TRIPS Agreement, by January 1, 2005.
Patent protection for pharmaceutical products will provide India’s scientists with incentives to discover and develop new life-saving drugs.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country’s leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. PhRMA members invested an estimated $38.8 billion in 2004 in discovering and developing new medicines. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures.
