The Need For India To Expand Its R&D Base Along With Stronger IP Laws

Technology has dramatically empowered the healthcare industry. Today, innovations have turned untreatable into manageable long-term conditions (and potentially curable in many cases). A case in point— Cancer. If you look back only 40 years, the transformation in cancer treatments has been revolutionary. Led by innovations, these transformations have changed the way cancer is treated. Advancements like immunotherapy, targeted therapy, proton therapy, radioactive elements and other radiation therapies have picked up steam as experts work towards the cure. While researchers around the world are coming up with solutions to defeat cancer more efficiently, India is struggling to keep pace. Nearly 50 breakthrough cancer therapies were rolled out in the period of 2010-14 around the world, and India has been able to integrate only seven oncology drugs. For a country which is home to over 17 lakh new cancer cases every year, which will rise to 20 lakhs by 2020, the need for innovative medication and early detection is now, more than ever.

Over the years, innovative therapies have addressed the various issues that patients face, including tumour reoccurrence after primary treatment, unwanted side effects, and others. Today, by aggressive screening and vaccination, many countries around the world like Japan, US and Europe have managed to address cervical cancer affectively, whereas, in India, a woman dies of cervical cancer every 8 minutes.

The reasons are many. But most importantly, we are not investing strategically in R&D, which in turn is deterring innovations from happening. R&D allows room for newer medications, smarter solutions and effective treatments that are only possible through innovation. And, for any innovation in the field of medicine, you need financial capital and technological prowess. Until India creates the effective solutions to address India’s cancer burden, we need research-based global companies to enter the Indian market with therapies that can counter the cancer burden.

After all, medical innovations cannot be/should not be restricted by geographies. The next important aspect is, how can we bring these innovations to India. By protecting them, rewarding them. Hence, the need for a robust system of intellectual property (IP) rights to incentivize innovations to improve patient outcomes.

Although India has made great progress in strengthening its IP mechanism, we could definitely improve with time.

The lack of protection of IP means no incentive to conduct clinical trials or launch medicines in India because domestic firms receive a significant competitive advantage over innovative global biopharmaceutical companies. This, in turn, will stunt the growth of innovation and the introduction of medicines for Indian patients. With stronger IP laws, patients benefit from an improved quality of life by having access to new, effective and reliable treatments. In addition to the existing technologies, a stronger IP base also allows futuristic technologies to prosper and deliver patient-specific outcomes.

Improved IP protection will also give India an edge over many other countries as it would make India a competitive destination for biopharmaceutical research and development. This would not only benefit the industry, but also patients across the country.

To deliver innovative treatments to patients, we need policies that encourage newer medicines to come to our markets. The oncology landscape is evolving at a blistering pace. If we do not let them come to India, we lose out on the many innovations that can potentially improve the lives of our cancer patients. While I encourage the way, domestic industries are taking it in their stride to work towards smarter solutions that promise better patient outcomes, I also support innovations from around the world. A new discovery in the medicine space could take years before it produces results. We cannot have millions of lives waiting.

The future of the most advanced cancer treatments belongs to countries who encourage global medical advancements to enter the domestic market. Is India ready to take tackle the cancer burden with the right policy framework?

Dr Tejinder Kataria

Guest Author The author is the Chairperson, Radiation Oncology, Cancer Institute at Medanta Hospital.