Had by the Hustlers , Again
Heh , heh . How sweetly we have been had , and all within 20–25 years. Business newspapers of the nation ( Economic Times on 24th May and Business Line on 28th May, 2010) have sounded the alarm that already pharmaceutical Trans National Companies ( TNCs) control nearly 50 % of India`s medicines` market of around Rs.47,000 crores.
It is almost back to the bad old days of 1960s/1970s when they had 75%. This, when India is supposed to be on the threshold of becoming a global power, as per the propaganda of Manmohanist globalisation!
Well, well .
How did this come about? Through inorganic growth of TNCs gobbling up Indian pharma companies by mergers & acquisitions. The other day US-based Abbot Laboratories acquired Piramal Healthcare; a few months back Japan`s Daiichi Sankyo bought Ranbaxy Laboratories; this has been going on for some time. Today 3 out of 5 top pharma companies are TNCs. On the other hand the New Era Indian pharma companies tom–tommed by manmohanists while succumbing to product-patents` regime in WTO, like Dr. Reddy`s Laboratories, Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma, etc which were proudly filing their own patents have lost most of their patent claims in foreign lawsuits over the last 10 years.Who is surprised ?
Lawsuits–things done by lawyers, courts, judges, etc–we know well .
Okay , what is the inside story ? Earlier the big market of India could not be touched by TNCs because in 1971 Indira Gandhi–the grandmother of Rahul Gandhi–had made process- patent as India`s governing law in this industry, so that India- made drugs were much cheaper. In 1990s manmohanism switched to products-patent law, promising all the WTO goodies, and joined something called “international community”. The slogan was let-the-best-man(company)-win. Initially Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy`s, etc seemed to be winning on “merits”, even in USA and Europe. Other Indian companies, being second rate, were expected to be content with making and selling de-patented medicines as generic drugs. Fine.
But it so turns out that a big bunch of lucrative product-patents worth US$70 billion is expiring patency by 2013, and these should by the book then fall to the second rate Indian companies to exploit as generic drugs. The market is too large. And tempting. TNCs want this too for themselves. So, how ? Lo and behold, it amazingly turns out that WTO rules are conveniently sweet on market-access by mergers & acquisitions!
Thus were the two ends of the trap sprung. During patency:TNCs, and during off-patency: TNCs. Heads I win, tails you lose. And in the next 5-7 years the next bunch of TNC patents will be in place; the merry-go-round will start all over again. Jai Ho.
So what , the believers will say since there is nothing beyond belief, all this is just blind market forces–no rigging . The point of course is–and always has been–that the Abbots, etc will not sell medicines at prices which Piramal did. So, poor Indians will have to pay more. The diehards will say, no, we have price-controls, laws, Rules in place for that sort of thing. Belief! Despite having seen the politicians, judges, policemen, bureaucrats running all the nations' rules since 1947?
Inorganic growth. Strange language – of these strange times.
Is it only a pharma story? Lest you are by now beginning to be moved by even larger forebodings, it will be said: look it is case to case–see how Tata bought Corus, Mittals and Jindals bought something or the other. It is all fair game. The book says you win some, you lose some.
Well , history is tough. If you ignore it , it will repeat itself. The firangis have never gone by the book, any book. What is happening now was scripted in 1970s–after the “oil-shock” given to the firangis by the Arab OPEC . A script of Neo-Habsburgism was written: Planet Earth is a lifeboat meant for only a few; Africa is to be depopulated and otherwise degraded back to mineral level; socially and environmentally dirty industries are to be shifted to upstarts like Japan, Korea, India, China, etc; weaponry, key materials, instrumentation, and finance are to be in white hands, preferrably anglo-saxon. Amen .
We have just witnessed the pharma act. Others will follow–by the script. India will forever remain on the road to becoming a global power-- had it taken another road it might have actually become something.For those who like big words what is happening is neo-imperialism; for other folks it is hustle.
One can assess the contribution of leaders only after a span of time. What Indira Gandhi did, was not all that bad! End pf privy purse, Banks to reach out to all parts of the country, process patents....Well, she was not gullible. In the world o hustle and bustle, she knew how to roll & tumble!!
ReplyDeleteIt had been always like this. The law of the powerful taking the less strong for a ride.When she did what she did there was her own experience of having to go begging bowl in hand for food. The Indian Iron lady did the right thing vis a vis the TNCs. We had to see Coca-Cola going away but Thumbs Up and Campa Cola came along. No real harm was done. Then in 1990 Manmmohan did what he had to do but thank the Communist NonGod that they held up some of the non reforms. I remember how the MerrilLynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgans, Lazards came in for tie ups with the leading Indian financial lights of the day.They used them for contacts and then spat them as soon as they had done with them. Having established direct contacts and hired the sons and daughters they are busy.
ReplyDeleteInitially Fiat brought in old technology even in the 90s, so did Peugot, Ford, Opel still it did not suffice, but they are waiting. Who knows who will aquire whom later or suck them up. What has Walmart and Tesos have to bring in as Supermarkets our very own baniyas cannot do. They wiii steal our shirts and we will thank them allowing to us get the sunshine for the vitamin D. So much for us. We can neither join in the chorus of Globlisation nor can we sing alone.
I was wondering earlier if taposh was getting carried away. All I feel like saying forget about the 85%, these are not taking care of even the 15% but 1.5%, but then numbers always got me in trouble.
We are of course a God fearing religious nation. We will pray for a good afterlife. There is Heaven or the next life waiting for us. We have forgotten how to be angry.
Having read this and the one on films,I wonder when taposh will have a stab at the contents of the TV channels. On one hand we have the news, sometimes non stop non relective version of the British tabloids and we have the interminable serials.Is it the 5%,or 7% or the 15% which is being served? Where does our insatiable appetite for cricket on the screen fit in. I am waiting.
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