When the Indian Patent Office rejected multinational conglomerate (MNC) AbbVie’s patent application for its cancer drug Venetoclax in late January, there was customary cheerleading that follows such decisions. Drug companies here were happy because their patent opposition, filed over a seven-year period from 2018, had finally been upheld and allowed them to launch generic versions of the blockbuster medicine right away instead of waiting for several years more in case the patent was granted. Patients were naturally delighted since the drug would be available for less than 20 per cent of the price. So were public health campaigners fighting for access to more affordable medicines. All to the good it would seem, but for one question. Will India’s pharma companies continue to be just generics producers, whose viability is based on how adroitly they come up with new processes to manufacture innovator drugs when patents expire? Or, if they are lucky, on how successful they are in challenging the grant of patents to blockbuster drugs like Venetoclax under India’s Patents Act?
This question has become more urgent as the profile of the global pharma industry changes dramatically to meet the therapeutic and technological demands of life-threatening diseases that were once deemed incurable or untreatable. We are witnessing transformative breakthroughs in biotechnology that are completely reshaping disease prevention and treatment. Amazing strides are being made in the management of a host of disorders and chronic diseases that were earlier untreatable. Some game-changing drugs have been made possible by the coming together of cutting-edge new technology—gene editing (CRISPR), mRNA and artificial intelligence (AI). This has resulted in dramatic advancements in different fields such as oncology, metabolic disease management, and treatment of neurological conditions.
The US continues to be the leading innovator in the field but coming close behind is China, which now accounts for an unbelievable 20 per cent of the drugs in development globally. Huge investments in drug development and overhaul of the regulatory system powered the dramatic surge in innovative, "first-in-class" medicines, a feat unparalleled by a nation that was earlier just …
This article was originally published in the February 16-28, 2026 print edition of Down To Earth