ISAS Working Papers

In revising its drug pricing policies, the Government of India needs to balance its core responsibility to protect the health and welfare of the Indian people and the Nation's interest in sustaining the continued development of a world-class Indian life sciences capability. It is vital that the citizens of India, particularly the common man, have access to affordable medicines for treating the most common and important disease conditions. This is a core mission for any government. At the same time, unlike most nations, including even the most advanced OECD economies, India is a global competitor in the advanced life sciences. Our pharmaceutical industry is a world leader in international generics markets and has begun making serious inroads in innovative drug discovery. Indian scientists, doctors, and medical researchers have developed important, commercially-successful treatments for disease, including biopharmaceutical inventions which have been patented in the United States and Europe. Indian scientists and researchers populate the laboratories of the major U.S. and European multinational drug companies, and increasingly are being drawn home by opportunities in our own country. Accordingly, any pharmaceutical pricing policy must also advance India's capability to discover and develop advanced medicines