Smuggling life-saving drugs

By Jiang Jie Source:Global Times Published: 2013-10-20 20:03:01

An Indian shopkeeper sells cancer drugs by Indian generic drug manufacturer Cipla in Allahabad, India, on April 1, 2013, when India's Supreme Court rejected drug maker Novartis AG's attempt to patent a new version of a cancer drug Glivec. Photo: IC

An Indian shopkeeper sells cancer drugs by Indian generic drug manufacturer Cipla in Allahabad, India, on April 1, 2013, when India's Supreme Court rejected drug maker Novartis AG's attempt to patent a new version of a cancer drug Glivec. Photo: IC



Li Lala (pseudonym) has been on edge recently, fearing that her friend will be put behind bars for helping her buy anti-cancer drugs from India.

What seemed harmless at first has resulted in serious penalties for people involved in the trade.

On October 9, the People's Court of Fangshan District in Beijing sentenced a Chinese man to eight months behind bars and a penalty of 2,000 yuan ($328), for buying drugs from India.

In September, two couples were arrested in Guangdong Province. All five were charged with the crime of selling "fake drugs" which referred to the drugs they had brought back from India, and labeled "fake" because the drugs had not been licensed by Chinese authorities.

Li also fears the ramifications for her father, who was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2011.

The ban on drugs from India is likely to cause economic hardship for her family.

The suggested medicine for liver cancer treatment, Nexavar, costs 50,000 yuan per month, but an Indian equivalent, Soranib, costs 2,000 yuan.

Soranib, manufactured by Cipla, is one of many generic drug brands produced by Indian companies which are comparable to those made by international drug giants, and use the same active ingredients.

They are the source of significant friction between Western drug multinationals and the Indian government, but for cancer patients they represent a cheap ray of hope.

Business goes on

Where there is a need, there is also supply and few needs are greater than life-saving treatments.

The market for Indian drugs still exists in China, despite the recent cases, and sellers reached by a Global Times reporter who posed as a buyer claimed that they could acquire the cheap Indian products.

Questions posted online for the General Administration of Customs of China also confirmed the large demand, with more than half of the 42 inquiries about India being about pharmaceuticals and customs inspections.

A buyer surnamed Wang claimed that he sometimes helps mainland patients buy anti-cancer drugs from pharmacies in India as he works in Delhi.

Without specifying the number of patients he has helped, Wang demonstrated his knowledge by describing the myriad drugs available for cancers and the correct dosages.

Wang owns an Indian handicraft store on shopping site taobao.com and this is where his drug business is conducted.

"This is what many buyers do because they are not allowed to sell drugs on Taobao. You click and buy the goods and I will send you the drugs," Wang said, promising that he will send a copy of a local newspaper and receipts from the pharmacy when he sends out the drugs to prove they were made in India.

As for customs inspections when entering China, Wang guaranteed that the packages of more than 10 boxes of Soranib would not be intercepted.

He also noted that patients can pick up their package at customs using their medical records in line with regulations which demand that an individual's articles are limited to the value of 1,000 yuan with duty-free allowances of 500 yuan at one time, and when valid medical certificates are required they are permitted into the country.

Another buyer from Hunan Province who asked to remain anonymous told the Global Times that their online store was closed in the crackdown but like other businesses, they set up new ones to keep their business going.

"The status quo is satisfactory to us. We don't want the government to officially approve these imports.

"The patients get their drugs and we get money."

Drug wars for turf

Multinational pharmaceutical companies have long held grudges against their Indian counterparts, who are granted licenses from the Indian government which allow them to bypass patents held by multinationals and produce the drugs more cheaply.

In 2012, the first license was issued to Natco Pharma in India to exploit the patent of Bayer's Nexavar brand drug. The same year, AstraZeneca failed an attempt to receive patent protection in India for its drug Iressa.

In fact many countries can grant compulsory licenses and have the freedom to "determine the grounds upon which such licenses are granted," as was written in a ministerial declaration of the World Trade Organization in 2001, which reaffirmed that members can make use of the provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights to protect public access to medicine.

Zhao Guohua, a visiting professor of the China University of Political Science and Law, said that generic drugs cannot be approved for import since the production of these drugs violates customs regulations regarding intellectual property rights.

The Law of the Administration of Drugs states that drugs that have not received approval are considered "fake".

A model for China?

Song Ruilin, chairman of the China Pharmaceutical Industry Research and Development Association, noted that the "compulsory licenses" India uses to bypass patents represent the last straw that a country can rely on in the battle for public health rights, and said that India is not an example for other developing countries to follow.

"It's a Pandora's Box. Once a precedent is set it could become common and there would be no incentive for Chinese companies to develop new drugs, thus stifling the innovation capabilities of domestic pharmaceutical companies. Chinese market would be abandoned by international drug makers when it comes to new branded drugs if it protects its companies too much,"he said.

He pointed out many domestic drug makers have received patents after extensive research courtesy of research and development institutions, and that there is strong momentum in the whole industry to develop new drugs to compete with patented anti-cancer drugs.

When no domestic alternative is available, negotiation could be carried out between governments and drug manufacturers to push for lower prices, according to Song.

He also said that that research should quickly begin regarding existing patented drugs, because the patents of many popular drugs will expire in 2013.

Lu Zhenhai, a doctor at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, said that regardless of business concerns, it's worth pointing out that the Indian plan helps people who suffer from terminal cancer.



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