A stitch in time....
No other country among the developed or the developing, are as much concerned as India is, over the fair promise of balance of private rights with the public good, writes Dr Gopakumar G Nair

‘Our stand on patents has not changed’
We are in a permanent state of health crisis. If anybody from the president downwards denies this, I am willing to give up everything! asserts Dr Yusuf Khwaja Hamied

Is there life after 2005?
Since product patents will be prospective and not retrospective and over 95 per cent of drugs in the WHO Essential Drugs List are off-patent, generics as well as branded generics will continue to survive, says Dr Ajit Dangi

Year 2003 in retrospect for pharma industry
The SSI sector deserves to be supported, but at the same time, there should not be any let-down in quality and export efforts, says Yogin Majmudar

Pharma industry - Opportunity post 2005
There’s no doubt about the future of Indian pharmaceutical industry which is mature enough to face the challenges and grab the opportunities by interacting with the global industry and taking advantage of the facilities, manpower and the information technology base of the country, says Dr M Venkateswarlu

TRIPs and Doha declaration: Implementation by India
It is estimated that over seventy per cent of the turnover of the drugs and pharmaceuticals in the coming future would be produced through biotechnology route and the use of these technologies being new will also qualify for the twenty year patent term, states B K Keayla

As 2005 draws near
The most rewarding possible scenario will be the involvement of many Indian firms both large and small towards drug discovery which is expected to create the much-needed intellectual capital for the Indian healthcare sector, writes Dr Anindya Sircar

‘Patent regime may not affect our industry for next five years’
Post-2005 there will not be any noticeable effect on the domestic branded generics industry. In all probability, it will continue as it is today, says Purushottam B Agrawal, MD, Ajanta Pharma Limited.

Challenges before, beneath & beyond 2005
The way the price control mechanism works, it will hardly have any impact on the price of new patented molecules, says Dr Chandra M Gulhati

Licensing and litigation set to escalate
* ‘As the product patent era dawns, licensing will become an important issue’ - Dr Prabuddha Ganguli
* ‘Year 2005 and Trips-compliant laws would split the pharma industry into two segments’ - Dr Gopakumar Nair

Post-2005: An era of uncertainty
There are no answers yet to the vexing questions. However, unless one is capable of foreseeing the potential problems, there is no magic wand which will provide meaningful answers, states Dr M D Nair

‘Industry will be more medically driven’
Nicholas Piramal India Limited’s (NPIL) director, Strategic Alliances and Communications, Dr Swati A Piramal is an expert on biotechnology and patent-related issues.

Whither data exclusivity?!!!
Will the domestic industry’s stance change from "cheet bhi meri, putt bhi meri" to heads I win, tails my country wins? asks Zarir H Charna

Parle Group: Total solution provider for pharma industry
The Parle Tools Group has been catering to the various needs of the pharma industry since past three decades. The company has built a strong brand image.