The impact of TRIPS on innovation and exports: a case study of the pharmaceutical industry in India

Currently, there is a debate on what impact the implementation of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in India would have on its pharmaceutical industry and health care. The debate hinges primarily on two major questions. First, will the new patent regime provide an impetus for innovation in the pharmaceutical industry? Second, how far will India’s pharmaceutical exports of copied versions of patented drugs to developing countries be restricted under the new regime? The first question seeks to find out if TRIPS will increase India’s innovative capabilities to fill the current vacuum to develop drugs for tropical diseases. The large multinational companies (MNCs) that dominate the global pharmaceutical industry have no interest in commercial ventures that have little potential for great returns on investment. The second question attempts to find a solution to the lack of access to medicine in most developing countries. Indian manufacturers’ supply of reverse-engineered drugs, which cost only a fraction of the prices charged by MNCs, may be coming to an end under the new regime. Against this backdrop, this article attempts to analyse the impact of strengthening intellectual property rights in India

Implementing TRIPS in India : implications for access to medicines

This thesis investigates the implications of implementing TRIPS in India for access to medicines drawing on three major factors: (i) the TRIPS agreement, (ii) the global pharmaceutical industry and (iii) the development of Indian pharmaceutical industry and the level of access to medicines in India. In doing so, the thesis examines the requirements of the TRIPS agreement and analyses the costs and benefits of its implementation, especially from a developing country view point. The fairness test shows that TRIPS prematurely forces developing countries to adopt protection standards, which a number of developed countries themselves did not adopt until they had achieved a certain level of economic developmen

India\u27s pharmaceutical industry: hype or high tech take-off?

India has built a large pharmaceutical industry through an array of measures in support of domestic firms. The absence of product patents enabled Indian companies to become world leading producers of generic versions of patented drugs. Low costs and a strong engineering tradition continue to sustain competitive strength. The implementation of the World Trade Organization patent regime in 2005 is driving a transformation of the industry. Key elements of the present shake-up include the return of \u27big pharma\u27 companies on a large scale and the emergence of several Indian firms that aim to become fullyfledged research-based multinationals. This article provides a description of the development and structure of the Indian pharmaceutical industry and explores questions and challenges arising from its integration into global markets.<br /

Synthesis, characterization and pharmacological evaluation of (Z)-2-(5-(biphenyl-4-yl)-3-(1-(imino)ethyl)-2,3-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)phenol derivatives as potent antimicrobial and antioxidant agents

The oxadiazole pharmacophore is considered a viable lead structure for the synthesis of more efficacious and broad spectrum antimicrobial agents. The significance of this study was to prepare various oxadiazole derivatives by introducing the 1,3,4 oxadiazole core into several molecules to explore the possibilities of some altered biological activities. Therefore, the study presents the synthesis, antimicrobial and antioxidant evaluation of a series of 1,3,4 substituted oxadiazole derivatives. Antimicrobial evaluation revealed that eighteen compounds were able to display variable growth inhibitory effects on the tested Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli and fungal strains Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. Among the synthesized derivative analogues 6f, 6l and 6r were found to be the most effective antibacterial agents. While the compounds 6c, 6l and 6q were found to be the most promising antifungal agents. On the other hand, all the synthesized compounds 6a–6r were subjected to antioxidant activity but only analogues 6l and 6q were found to exhibit potent antioxidant activity. Further compound 6l containing p-nitro phenyl moiety along with oxadiazole pharmacophore proved to be the most active antimicrobial and antioxidant agent

In silico analysis of the inhibitory activities of GABA derivatives on 4-aminobutyrate transaminase

Reduced levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are cause of quite a many diseases, and it cannot be directly introduced into the body to enhance its level because of the blood–brain barrier. Thus the technique used for the purpose involves the inhibition of aminobutyrate transaminase (ABAT), the enzyme catalyzing its degradation. The structure of human ABAT is not currently known experimentally, thus, it was predicted by homology modeling using pig ABAT as template due to high level of sequence similarity and conservation. A series of new γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) derivatives obtained from 4-(1,3-dioxoisoindolin-2-yl)butanoic acid are used in this study. These γ -aminobutyric acid (GABA) derivatives were used as ligand dockings against human ABAT as well as pig ABAT receptors