Indian Pharmaceutical Industry in WTO Regime

A SWOT analysis of the Indian pharmaceutical industry (IPI) in the WTO regime reveals that the much acclaimed IPI's expertise in process development skills were made possible by amendments made to the Indian Patents Act 1970. This strength should be utilised to the hilt to benefit from opportunities that arise from vertical disintegration of research, clinical trials and manufacturing by the multinationals. IPI faces threats in the form of competition from other Asian giants, particularly China. This paper argues that the IPI should adopt various strategies like producing off-patented products, new patented products by acquiring compulsory licensing or cross licensing, collaborate with multinationals not only in R and D and manufacturing, but also in marketing new patented products and improving the standards of production to widen the export market.