Lately customs in some European countries, such as France and the Netherlands, have stopped import of generic drugs manufactured in India. This has been done after complaints about counterfeiting from large pharmaceutical companies, with competing drugs. Generic drugs are "copies" of drugs that can be manufactured legally after the patent has run out. Thus these drugs are not illegal and stopping them should be in violation with World Trade Organization policies. What makes the holders of the expired patents worried, is that the generic manufacturer can provide the drugs without the very expensive drug development process, thus selling the same drug at a lower price. A typical drug development process is often estimated to cost around $2 billion and take around 10 years.
Now this problem has been resolved, at least for now, and Indian generic drugs can be imported again. However, Indian officials are still worried about coming developments in this matter. India is currently a leading location for manufacturing of generic drugs, much due to relatively low wages and high competence.
[Pharmaceutical] [Generics] [Free Trade] Share on Facebook
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