India joins global drug discovery league

The launch by Ranbaxy last week of Synriam, a new drug to treat malaria, is an important milestone. Having made its name by manufacturing generic (off patent) drugs cheaply, India’s pharmaceutical industry has struggled to achieve original drug discovery since the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations signalled the onset of product patents in India. It began to be realised, in time, that there was more to drug discovery than low-cost science graduates and PhDs. It requires not just vision but persistence (the probability of success is low) as also deep pockets. But Indian drug companies specialise in working on low margins.

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