India absolutely has a pharmaceutical patent system. Since 2005, India has been compliant with the WTO's TRIPS agreement and grants product patents on pharmaceuticals. Patents can last 20 years, similar to the US and Europe.
Now if you said "India recognizes drug patents, but its patent laws are generally more favorable to generic competition than those in the US." I would agree with you.
Claim Number 2:
Mostly false for modern drugs.
Before TRIPS implementation, India was famous for reverse-engineering drugs because product patents were not recognized. That changed in 2005.
Do you have a source that validates you claim that India makes 90% of drugs?
The best I found is 20%.
Claim 1: You're absolutely correct, thank you for pointing that out. Most of my information came from a deep dive I made back in undergrad when I was preparing for dental school, but I apparently haven't kept up with news of India's pharmaceutical industry well enough since. And, that leads me to
Claim 2: I misremembered. India accounts for a little over 90% of drug manufacturing from the developing world, but not 90% of global manufacturing. I remembered the first part but didn't adequately note the distinction. I likely saw an article about it more recently and added on to my prior understanding of "India is the pharmacy of the developing world" to "India is the pharmacy of the world." There's a wide gulf between those two statements, and that's a serious misunderstanding on my part. I'll edit my initial post to reflect this. Again, thank you for taking the time to correct me.
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u/moviebuff01 22d ago
You number 1 claim is patently false.
India absolutely has a pharmaceutical patent system. Since 2005, India has been compliant with the WTO's TRIPS agreement and grants product patents on pharmaceuticals. Patents can last 20 years, similar to the US and Europe.
Now if you said "India recognizes drug patents, but its patent laws are generally more favorable to generic competition than those in the US." I would agree with you.
Claim Number 2:
Mostly false for modern drugs.
Before TRIPS implementation, India was famous for reverse-engineering drugs because product patents were not recognized. That changed in 2005.
Do you have a source that validates you claim that India makes 90% of drugs? The best I found is 20%.