Patent and pricing policy in India - drug makers need to rethink their corporate strategies

India is becoming a difficult market for the pharmaceuticals industry, comments Dr. Jens Hammer, Patent Attorney at the law firm of Grünecker, in a third party contribution for Chemanager. In his article, he points out certain peculiarities in India.

Besides the issue of requiring drug makers to mandatorily grant licenses in respect of their drug patents, there is also uncertainty in respect of the legal validity of patents already granted. Both may ultimately lead to India becoming a testing ground for interest groups from all over the world to void patent protection owned by the international pharmaceuticals groups, warns Dr. Hammer in his Chemanager commentary.