US and India- Natural Allies or in Competition
Posted : February 17, 2007 at 6:50 am [IST]
A mysterious raid began mid-week at the North American headquarters of Ranbaxy Laboratories in Plainsboro and at Ohm Laboratories, its subsidiary in New Brunswick, both in New Jersey. The raid was by the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) office of criminal investigations (OCI). But the media reporters couldn’t find out the answers to their ‘whys’.
Ranbaxy has been attracting attention in the US and the resentment of global pharmaceutical giants for challenging their right to exclusive patents, which allow these global firms to profit enormously even if they put medicines beyond the reach of millions of Americans.
Ranbaxy has become one among the world’s top 10 manufacturers of generic drugs and hopes to raise its sales in the US to $5 billion by 2012, partly by taking advantage of Lipitor, the world’s best selling anti-cholesterol medicine, being freed from patent restrictions in 2010. Because of its record of producing generic medicines, Ranbaxy has been dubbed a “copycat” pharmaceutical company in industry circles here. But Ranbaxy has now become a global company on its own strength. Why should the Americans be zealous?
Should US authorities go like that? Is it because of the colour of the people who own the company? US manufacturers must try to keep pace with the competition with its innovations and lead rather than creating trouble through lobbying in its government machinery.
- Indra
Category: Government Policy/Administration |
Leave a Comment