Protect patients and patents smartly

In reading last month's 65-page order by Kerala High Court in two cases concerning the high cost of ribociclib, a patented breast cancer medicine, GoI must consider the bigger picture and the spirit of the order: patients should be able to afford life-saving drugs, including cancer therapies. Importantly, however, it should resist the temptation to invoke Section 100 of Patents Act 1970, which allows GoI to override patents and authorise third-party manufacturing of patented life-saving drugs on a non-commercial basis. GoI has a duty to ensure such medicines are accessible to those who need them. But should also avoid measures that could undermine the pharmaceutical industry to come up with drugs.

Along with pharma companies, GoI must identify ways to bring down drug costs and curb excessive markups by hospitals and retailers. Supreme Court's latest intervention reinforces this need. On Monday, it called for price controls on all non-patented medicines and consumables, questioning why regulation should be confined to a few categories of drugs. Rather than overriding patents, GoI can use the Aadhaar-based DBT system to provide financial support to needy patients. This would require robust eligibility criteria and oversight, but could offer a more targeted solution. It would complement AMRIT (Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment) retail outlets.

Invoking the Patents Act may be politically attractive. But it risks sending the damaging signal that India is willing to take a permissive approach to IPR and patents. That is hardly the reputation it wants to attract global investment. The challenge is to make life-saving treatment affordable without undermining incentives that sustain pharma research and innovation.