We strictly go by DCGI’s (Drug Controller General of India) approval as our drugs are second-line treatments, to be used only after primary treatment has failed. Hence, the patients who use these medicines for varying lengths of time from a month to a year, are in 100s, not millions. One cannot assess patient support here in terms of number of people.
The point is that people today are paying more not because Roche is charging more than Cipla. We are charging because of the taxes imposed by the government. Why is that point not being brought out?
Why doesn’t Roche manufacture the drug in the country and eliminate duty component in the cost?
Roche believes in manufacturing these speciality products only in its (global) centres of excellence. The demand for such a tertiary level products doesn’t meet the economies of scale and they are very modern therapies. These are the major issues.
What are your views on the way the Indian patent law has rolled out in the country.
The Indian patent law is one of the good laws. Now, enforcement has to be there. What we are facing is not an issue of law but that of enforcement.
Do you think patent lawsuits in India have virtually become a trial by public where everybody, from media and public health groups, jump in rather than letting two companies to slug it out?
In general I see is people trying to highlight a problem that doesn’t exist, to divert our attention from the patent. We look at price, we look at accessibility…these are not issues under patentability. Patent is the blessing for an innovation, we have to make that clear.
How come the innovator drug companies have launched several patented drugs when, in the years gone by, they have repeatedly said the current Indian patent law will discourage them from doing so? Was the market too big to ignore?
How many patented drugs are there in the country? Less than a dozen are patented and marketed even now. Speaking for Roche, we will give access to Indian patients for all our innovative drugs. We launched these products even when this patent law was not there. We will bring new developments to India which make a real difference to patient lives, we will not deny them such therapies. Obviously, any product launch has to be commercially viable.
Why are innovator drug makers so secretive about the patents they receive?
We have tremendous faith in this government. Otherwise we would not be launching the molecules. We have tremendous faith in the judiciary ... India is a signatory to the product patent law and we are following it.
Who is secretive? What is the secret in it when the patent office lists out the patented drugs? Tarceva, Herceptin, Pegasys, Bondronate, Mircera and Valcyte are the six drugs in India Roche has a patent for.
Do you have a structured patient assistance programme? Does Roche plan to introduce differential pricing?
We go by the recommendation of the doctors in supporting patients. Our drugs are coming out of biotechnology and don’t lend themselves to a mass scale patients access programme.