For a more healthy image

The Indian arm of Novartis, the Swiss drug multinational, registered a net profit of Rs 710 crore from its domestic business during the past eight years, but it has supplied $1 billion (Rs 4,400 crore) worth of blood cancer medicines free in India since late 2002.

Genzyme, the US-based biotechnology major, made its first presence in India by donating medicines to needy patients long before it started its India subsidiary to sell drugs (with the average cost of some of the medicines around Rs 30 lakh for a year’s treatment) three years earlier.

In both cases, the donations signified the desire of pharma majors to be seen as partners in healthcare access, than as producers of prohibitively high cost medicines, experts say.

Every major global pharmaceutical company has initiated a programme in capacity building, drug donation or promoting research into neglected diseases. The recently established Indian subsidiaries of Japanese drug major Eisai and US multinational Bristol Myers Squibb have already committed major funding towards capacity building and disease awareness.

Representatives of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of India recently showcased 18 cases where firms such as GlaxoSmithKlime, Astrazeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Abbott, Sanofi Aventis, Pfizer, Merck and Eisai India had made significant investment towards improving access to healthcare. The pharma lobby group said it intended to provide “innovative health solutions to improving health in India”.

Integral strategy
“Access strategies are, in fact, systematically integrated into the marketing of our drugs. For example, Novartis donates almost the whole global supply of leprosy drugs completely free of cost through the World Health Organisation and with close to 70 per cent of the world’s leprosy cases here, India is the largest beneficiary,” says Novartis India’s managing director, Ranjit Shahani.

Novartis’ Glivec International Assistance Program was introduced in India in late 2002. “Since then, Novartis has provided Glivec free of charge to more than 16,500 patients in need. Currently, there are more than 12,000 active GIPAP patients in India and since inception of the programme, Novartis has distributed Glivec valued at more than $1 billion free of charge to patients in need in India,” Shahani said.

Experts say the programmes are also meant to counter the anti-patient, high-price tag, image often attached to foreign pharma companies.

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that India, which ranked 14th among pharmaceutical global markets with $19 billion (Rs 84,000 crore) sales last year, will become one among the top 10 global markets, with a size of $50 billion, by 2020.

The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which represents leading domestic drug firms, contends philanthropy is not a domain of foreign multinationals. “The IPA members (firms such as Dr Reddy’s, Sun, Zydus, Cadila, etc) are engaged in several ways in capacity building and providing healthcare services to the weaker sections,” says its secretary general, D G Shah.

“We have established and are supporting educational institutions, including pharmacy colleges, contributing to community programmes, setting up charities for sustainable activities and offering quality medicines at affordable prices,” he said.