HYDERABAD: The $22.5 billion Indian pharmaceutical and biotech industry that thrives on innovation, Research & Development (R&D), termed Budget 2011 as a mere disappointment. The sector that spends more than 20-30 per cent of the total revenue on R&D saw little encouragement either to produce new drugs or to manufacture and export existing generics.
“This is a sunrise sector, but Budget 2011 has given us a step-motherly treatment. Be it on R&D spend or to nurture innovation and encourage the culture of patents, there is nothing that the sector can cheer about,” Suchitra K Ella, Co-Founder and Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech Ltd told Express.
The industry sought increase in R&D allocation from the current `100-crore to several thousand crores. According to estimates it requires more than `1,000 crore to develop and commercialise one molecule. Also, the increase in weighted deduction on R&D from 175-200 per cent comes with a rider.
“This exemption can be availed only if we conduct research in government laboratories. Our requirements could be different from the infrastructure available in government labs. This would have little or no impact at all,” Ella explained. A weighted deduction on expenses incurred on obtaining international certifications would have helped firms on capital expenses.
The industry, which exports about $8.8 billion worth pharma products, also sought compulsory licensing of life-saving drugs besides exemption of customs duties on equipment. “The industry has been clamoring for permission to sell generic versions of life saving medicines. While the Indian Patent Act and the relevant rules do contain a provision, it has not been made use of till now. Utilisation of this provision on a wider scale would have helped the industry not only in making life saving drugs cheaper, but would also open new avenues of treatment,” said Dr P Bhaskar Narayana, Director & CFO, Natco Pharma Ltd.