‘Trade pact to improve access to innovative medicines in India, even as it “reinforces” intellectual property (IP), as recognised under international trade laws’
Domestic drugmakers expect the India-European Union trade pact to improve access to innovative medicines in India, even as it “reinforces” intellectual property (IP), as recognised under international trade laws.
But public health and treatment activists are concerned on the IP front, and called for a release of the full text of the agreement for public scrutiny, and for it to be placed before Parliament for a discussion before sealing the pact.
Europe is a significant market (about $5.8 billion) for the Indian pharmaceutical industry, Sudarshan Jain, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance’s (IPA) Secretary General told businessline. “Indian companies play a critical role in supplying quality-assured, affordable medicines to Europe,” he said, and the removal of EU tariffs of up to 11 per cent on pharmaceuticals would enhance trade and support access to innovative medicines for Indian patients.
“The agreement reinforces the intellectual property framework under the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement and the Doha Declaration,” said the IPA, a platform for drugmakers including Sun Pharma, Cipla, Lupin, Zydus and Torrent Pharma. “We look forward to reviewing the detailed text of the agreement to assess its broader implications for the pharmaceutical industry,” IPA said.
The Doha Declaration allows countries to invoke provisions to make an innovative drug available to its people, in case of a public health emergency. Public health workers, though, are reading hte fine print to understand India’s position on IP issues including data exclusivity and extension of the period of patent protection, among other things.
IP concerns
The Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment, however, expressed concern on the European Commission’s communique that said the agreement provided for a “high level of protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property (IP) rights, including copyright, trademarks, designs, trade secrets and plant variety rights.”
This demonstrates that “India has agreed to IP protection and enforcement standards” that go beyond the minimum obligations under the TRIPS Agreement, they said. The EC press release does not mention “patent related provisions, nor does it clarify whether the agreement includes controversial TRIPS-plus measures such as patent term extensions, pharmaceutical data exclusivity, or other forms of market exclusivity for medicines,” the advocacy group said.
“India plays an important role as a supplier of affordable generic medicines to low- and middle- income countries. Any weakening of its patent laws or regulatory framework through FTAs risks having an impact not only patients in India, but millions worldwide who depend on Indian generic production,” it added.
Concerned at the lack of clarity, the advocacy group pointed out: “We recall that when negotiations were relaunched in 2022, the European Union’s proposed IP text explicitly sought patent term extension and data exclusivity protection for pharmaceutical products.” They urged the Indian government to clarify and ensure “the final text does not include any TRIPS-plus provisions, particularly patent term extensions and data exclusivity, which would compromise the availability of affordable medicines.”
Published on January 27, 2026
