'Productivity in drug innovation on the slide'

With the introduction of third amendment to the Indian Patent Law effective from January 1, India will have to fall in line with Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and stop reverse engineering.

The country needs to consolidate engineering and research to develop new drugs and delivery systems, said Bernard Pecoul, executive director, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).

"While the global spend on research and development in the pharma sector has gone up substantially, there is a decline in productivity in drug innovation worldwide. The world pharma market is estimated at around $406 billion, and India accounts for only 1.8 per cent of it, at $7.3 billion," said Pecoul.

Only one per cent of the new drugs developed are for neglected diseases.

DNDi aims to improve the quality of life and health for people. DNDi is working on over 14 different projects in different countries. It has partnered with Indian Council for Medical Research in India along with seven other institutions in different parts of the world.

In India, DNDi aims at do collaborative projects for neglected diseases to reduce the cost of research and development, with the help of public and private sector participation. The mid-term strategy of DNDi is to strengthen the existing capacity.

"India is strong contender for the position of pharmaceutical giant but to go global it can not forget to prioritize the needs of poor, neglected people suffering from disease that have failed to find place on the national health agenda across the world," said Pecoul.

"The majority world shoulders a disproportionate burden of disease. It has few drugs that respond to this challenge. In 2002, Africa, Asia and Middle-East, which house 72 per cent of the world's population, accounted for a mere 13 per cent of the world pharmaceutical market," he added.

Bansi Lal, president, research and development, Nicholas Piramal Research Centre, said: "Manufacturing and contract research can give us revenues, but will not make us global pharma giant. To control major share in the market, we have to develop new molecules and have top infrastructure".