In addition to giving praise from the perspective of film and art, the current discussion on the Internet can be roughly divided into three aspects. First, through this film, we can reflect on China's medical system. Second, because of the benefits of generic drugs, the discussion of drug patent rights has revived. Thirdly, discuss the pharmaceutical industry in China and whether the generic drugs in China can surpass those in India. After watching the movie, many moviegoers generally think that generic drugs are "life-saving drugs" and should be widely promoted. They also believe that China should catch up with and surpass India in the field of generic drugs. And why can't generic drugs in China surpass those in India?
Lu Yong 20 12, the prototype of the movie "Dying for Survival", is photographed in Weibo (Source: @ jingjingjing jingjingjing jingjingjing Lu Yong).
What is a generic drug? You must know the original drug before you can know the generic drug. The popular name of the original drug in the world is brand drug, which refers to the first company brand in the world to develop a drug. Before the original drug is put on the market, it usually needs to go through strict animal experiments, the first, second and third clinical trials in human body, and it can only be put on the market after four clinical amplification experiments prove that the curative effect is accurate, safe and reliable.
Generic drugs and original drugs are consistent in dosage and efficacy, the only difference is that there is no patent. Generic drugs originated in the United States. 1984, there were about 150 kinds of commonly used drugs whose patents expired in the United States. Big pharmaceutical companies think it is unprofitable and are unwilling to continue to develop. Therefore, the United States promulgated the Waxman-Hatch Act, and new manufacturers only need to prove to the FDA that their products are similar in biological activity to the original drugs, so the concept of generic drugs appeared and was adopted by Europe and Japan. Simply put, generic drugs mean that pharmaceutical manufacturers wait for the patent right of a drug of a big international company to expire, and then imitate and sell the drug.
The situation of generic drugs in India is quite special. The Indian Patent Law (1970) gave up the protection of intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical compounds, and domestic enterprises began to produce a large number of generic drugs, which quickly developed into a pillar industry. Because India only patents the production process of drugs, but not the drugs themselves, this gives a green light to the proliferation of generic drugs in India. According to a general manager of pharmaceutical technology who knows the Indian pharmaceutical industry very well, a drug can be seen in India in about three months after it has been approved by the US FDA, which shows the speed and strength of Indian imitation enterprises.
Indian pharmaceutical companies have quickly become multinational companies because of the accumulation of profits and capital. Take Cipla Company, which ranks third among Indian pharmaceutical companies, as an example. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cipla Company obtained the production facility license issued by the US FDA, and its drugs can be sold to more than 0/00 countries around the world. According to the data, more than 60% of India's generic drugs are exported to developed countries in the United States, Europe and Japan, and nearly 40% of the generic drugs in the US market come from India.
The rapid development of Indian pharmaceutical industry mainly benefits from four aspects, some of which are difficult for China to achieve at present.
First of all, India's policy on generic drugs is very loose. Drugs that can be listed in the FDA of the United States do not need to be clinically tested in India, as long as Indian companies can produce the same products as those listed in the United States. In contrast, China's requirements are more complicated than those of the US FDA. For example, the FDA does not require the source of raw materials, as long as it can meet the quality requirements, it can be listed. China The US Food and Drug Administration is the only government agency in the world that still needs an import license for pharmaceutical raw materials.
Furthermore, due to the relatively relaxed production environment of generic drugs, there are fewer counterfeit drugs and inferior drugs in the pharmaceutical market. Because of a large number of imitations, the price of drugs has dropped very low, and it is difficult for manufacturers who are not the first to make generic drugs to make profits, and it is even more uneconomical to make fake and inferior drugs.
Secondly, it is easy to raise funds in the stock market. In India, pharmaceutical companies are easy to go public, and the pressure of competition makes them invest the funds raised as much as possible in expanding production and technology research and development, rather than mainly for publicity and speculation. Relatively speaking, the listing procedures of pharmaceutical companies in China are complicated and even have quota restrictions. However, the money raised is rarely seriously put into production and development.
Finally, Indian pharmaceutical companies are willing to pay high salaries to core technicians. For example, the wages of ordinary employees in Indian pharmaceutical companies are very low, some of them are only a few hundred rupees (1 rupee is about 0.0 15 US dollars) per month, while the wages of technicians are quite high. The annual salary of the main researchers of drugs is generally more than 30 thousand dollars, and some even add 25% of the sales profit in the first year. These strategies, which are willing to spend a lot of money, have enabled Indian pharmaceutical companies to form a strong research team and have the strength to impact the world's cutting-edge medical technology.
Based on the above analysis, it can be seen that if China wants to surpass the Indian generic drug industry, it must carry out reforms in many aspects. However, at the same time of reform, we should also think about whether the generic drug industry serves enterprise consortia or ordinary people.