'Indian IP and Liabilities Law Barrier to Pharma R&D Investment'

India’s intellectual property (IP) regulations and liabilities laws pose a major barrier to foreign companies, that prevent them from increasing their footprint in the country’s huge market, according to Mr. Andrew Plump, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

He said that Takeda is open to increasing its footprint in India, with the improvement in IP protection laws and those related to liabilities. “I think more and more there’s an intent in India to try to open up its doors. I think if that happens, and if it facilitates entry of innovative patent protected pharmaceuticals you will see value driven companies coming into India,” he was quoted as saying by news agency reports emanating from the 12th annual US-India biopharma and healthcare summit held in the US recently.

“Our geographical spread hasn’t taken us to India, which is quite unusual for us because we are a company that thinks about patients and access and there’s such a huge unmet medical need in India. So, I’m hopeful that as we move forward we’ll find ways to bring medicines to patients in India,” he said.

Mr. Karun Rishi, head of the US India Chambers of Commerce, which organises the annual biopharma and healthcare summit, said that India can be a significant player in artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain technologies.

During the summit, scientists, academicians and experts from the sector brainstormed on various aspect of India’s biopharma and healthcare sector.