Indian firms in limbo on patents, pricing

Crucial legislation with the potential to alter the fortunes of thepharmaceutical sector in India is still awaited. The Vaipayee government has yet to make any significant move on the contentious issues of patents and pricing, leaving the industry in limbo. Local sources say that the industry hopes that the long-awaited Patents Law, which will replace process patents with stricter product patent laws, may finally be passed in the first session of the new year.

But the delay in passing the legislation could also be the result of the government's lack of confidence about seeing it through. Not everyone is optimistic that it will happen this year, but this could land the government in hot water as the World Trade Organization required India to pass the law by the end of December 2000.

The other piece of long-delayed pharmaceutical legislation is the New Drug Policy, which creates less stringent drug pricing on which the whole industry is united, and harmonization of standards where domestic units differ from multinational drug companies.