In order to help reduce drug prices, governments in countries such as India are devising policies to help local biotech companies. These companies are also initiating original drug discovery programmes. How much should these governments and companies be concerned about patents? We have...

In drug R&D, there are big challenges today. Big pharma is struggling with a drying up of the pipeline and neglected diseases do not attract much drug development effort. India faces a different challenge not often discussed: it has not yet brought out a single widely used new drug. This is...

We have conducted 30 interviews, representing 28 organizations, to understand various factors concerning eHealth in India today. These organizations are involved in designing, implementing or evaluating such programmes or providing relevant technologies. The various types of programmes running...

The biotech industry in India is becoming better established and companies are being set up at a higher rate now. Through interviews and general knowledge of the local scene, I have identified nine stimuli for biotech company formation in India at present

In any assessment of the R&D capabilities of Indian companies, their patent holdings would have to be examined. Here we identify the number of patents assigned by four foreign governments to Indian pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies up to December 31, 2009. It is known that the United...

This analysis looks at the identity of different Indian assignees of 2300 US patents upto 30 June 2009. These patents are classified according to the nature of the assignee, that is companies, government departments and national research laboratories, universities, other non-profit organizations...

Patents are important for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. In order to remain valid, an issued patent has to be ‘maintained’ by the payment of fees to the patent office at three well-defined times over several years. The article examines whether Indian companies in these sectors...

Given that medical devices in India tend to be imported (75%), it is important to understand local attempts at innovation in this space. Based largely on interviews, we have prepared case studies of six local innovative device companies. The innovators' efforts have been enabled by close...