For example, the price of Gleevec in China is the highest in the world, 23,500 yuan per box. 65,438+03,600 USD, Australia 65,438+00,000 USD, Hong Kong 65,438+07,000 USD, and South Korea 3000 USD. But in India, the price of each box is surprisingly low, as long as it is less than 200 RMB, which means that if you buy a box in China, you can buy 200 boxes in India!
Why are Indian anticancer drugs so cheap? ?
It turns out that the reason why the price difference of anticancer drugs is so big lies in patents! During the patent period of 20 years, only the original R&D enterprise can produce a drug, which leads to price monopoly. The Indian government unswervingly implements the "drug compulsory licensing system", that is to say, India abandons the western patent protection regulations and imitates the latest and most effective drugs for the majority of low-income people. At the same time, the Indian patent law stipulates that only process patents are granted to domestically developed foods and medicines, and no product patents are granted. These policies have led to the rise of generic drugs in India, and the production cost of drugs in India is very low, so India's anticancer drugs are much cheaper than other countries. Although generic drugs are cheap, the efficacy of most generic drugs is very close to that of the original drugs.
On the one hand, European and American countries strongly resist this behavior in India, but on the other hand, according to statistics, 1/5 of the global generic drugs are produced in India, and about half of the generic drugs produced in India drift across the Indian Ocean to the world. In addition, a large number of tourists from Europe, America, the Middle East and Indian neighboring countries come to india tourism every year, which is called "medical tourism". Because of the same medical service, the price in India is sometimes lower than that in the west110, and the price advantage of Indian generic drugs is one of the important reasons.
Of course, many private hospitals in India are also world-class. According to the characteristics of low medical consumption in India, they developed an effective and cost-effective treatment method in the most economical way. The cost of some operations is only110 in western countries, and the service is thoughtful. Like the famous Apollo Hospital, it attracts nearly 30,000 foreigners to India for treatment every year, including many patients from Europe, America and the Middle East.
China's imported drugs must be examined by the state drug supervision and administration department before they can be approved for import. Drugs purchased in India, even if they have been examined and registered in overseas countries, have effective ingredients and good results. However, if it is imported and used in China without approval, it will be treated as fake medicine, so it is illegal. There have been many cases of being arrested for selling counterfeit drugs because they went to India to buy generic drugs. As a big country in the world, China has a positive attitude towards patent protection, because patents stimulate the research and development of new drugs. At the same time, there are also generic drugs in China for drugs that have passed the patent period. Of course, domestic drugs must be supported. Moreover, the quality of drugs is related to people's lives, and it is difficult to guarantee the authenticity of smuggled drugs. We must be cautious in this regard. Of course, it is not illegal for individuals to buy from India and use it only for personal use and not for profit.