Even as the tussle over the Patent Ordinance continues between various political parties, a section of the government is veering round the view that the Patents Ordinance in its present form will lead to a hike in drug prices.
The opinion is in contrast to the commerce ministry's opinion that drug prices will not be affected as 97 per cent of the drugs in use in the country at present are off-patent.
Unhappy with the Patents Ordinance in its present form, the ministries of chemicals and health in a meeting on Saturday identified some of their common concerns, stating that the Patents Ordinance indeed went further than just fulfilling the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) commitment and that more flexibilities should be incorporated.
The ministries are deliberating the changes that should be brought about when it comes to provisions on patentability and pre-grant opposition. The comments will be sent to the prime minister's office which is said to have raised concerns earlier on the issue.
"Also, we want to be ready with our views in case the Patent Ordinance is referred to a select parliamentary committee," an official in the ministry of chemicals said.
The ministries' concern stems from the fact that there are about 7,000 patent applications in the mail box.
About 2,500 applicants are learnt to be seriously pursuing the applications. Assuming all the applications are for new chemical entities, this would mean there have been 250 NCEs discovered every year.
"This is impossible, considering the global average is 10, and going down by the year. Once, different forms of the same molecule are given a patent, almost 60 per cent of the drug market drugs will covered," the official added.
The ministries also feel that the pre-grant opposition has been considerably weakened and the clauses present earlier but omitted in the Ordinance should be restored.
"Earlier there was a fear that pre-grant opposition will lead to a rise in litigation, but that problem has been taken care of in the Ordinance as a patent will be granted and an objection dismissed concurrently," an official said.
Officials also feel that the procedures for getting a compulsory licence are very tedious and should be eased.
Patent concern
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