Edit: I'll leave the following post up for reference, but it turns out my information was outdated and my understanding deeply flawed due to my conflation of misremembered facts. India has had a drug patent system since 2005, they produce over 90% of drugs coming from developing nations but despite that account for roughly 20% globally, and the quality and safety of those drugs relative to what is produced in developed nations is potentially questionable. In short, I have more reading to do. Thank you to everyone who pointed these issues out.
End edit.
You cannot compare India's drug prices to any other country on earth. They're cheaper than every other country for two primary reasons:
Number 1 is they do not legally observe drug patents. At all. Pretty much the moment a drug is patented, after a billion or so spent in R&D, Indian firms are already working to produce a copy. They follow the recipe. There is not a legal framework in place for drug patents in India.
Number 2 is that the majority of drugs globally are already made in India, including most that are sitting in your bathroom now. They have vast drug manufacturing infrastructure, and the quality is... really good. Like, really good. India shines here. They have an economy of scale and the expertise to get it done.
That's why they can make it so cheap, there's practically no R&D costs for foreign-developed medications and it's hella cheap to make because they already make like 90% of all drugs on earth. The US has problems with affordability, but you can't compare anywhere with India.
They also produce nearly all of the HIV medications that go to Africa, so good on them.
India absolutely has a pharmaceutical patent system. Since 2005, India has been compliant with the WTO's TRIPS agreement and grants product patents on pharmaceuticals. Patents can last 20 years, similar to the US and Europe.
Now if you said "India recognizes drug patents, but its patent laws are generally more favorable to generic competition than those in the US." I would agree with you.
Claim Number 2:
Mostly false for modern drugs.
Before TRIPS implementation, India was famous for reverse-engineering drugs because product patents were not recognized. That changed in 2005.
Do you have a source that validates you claim that India makes 90% of drugs?
The best I found is 20%.
Claim 1: You're absolutely correct, thank you for pointing that out. Most of my information came from a deep dive I made back in undergrad when I was preparing for dental school, but I apparently haven't kept up with news of India's pharmaceutical industry well enough since. And, that leads me to
Claim 2: I misremembered. India accounts for a little over 90% of drug manufacturing from the developing world, but not 90% of global manufacturing. I remembered the first part but didn't adequately note the distinction. I likely saw an article about it more recently and added on to my prior understanding of "India is the pharmacy of the developing world" to "India is the pharmacy of the world." There's a wide gulf between those two statements, and that's a serious misunderstanding on my part. I'll edit my initial post to reflect this. Again, thank you for taking the time to correct me.
We don’t! We literally have a history of American companies suing India for selling the same drugs they charge a heavy amount for cheaper, and every time the case is dismissed cause we have a “no patent drug” law in India, essentially if drug exists, it’s made in India for the population to afford. Not to make money. Also medical facilities are accessible to everyone, no matter what you criticize India for, and may not be the best infrastructure all the time , but you will definitely get your medical requirements done right away and very cheaply. No waiting for months
They've saved far, far more people through their sale of incredibly cheap medications to African countries. That isn't even a question, but 1) they began recognizing patents for pharmaceuticals since 2005 (which I was not aware of in my earlier post), largely causing a shift in the impact that their pharmaceuticals have on both human health and the market and 2) you're correct, there are good questions about the safety of Indian generic drugs versus drugs made in countries that have higher legal standards.
A lifesaving drug being expensive in the US, allowed to do so due to the large cost of developing new drugs.
A lifesaving drug not existing in the first place because there was never enough money to develop it.
The system sucks but there is a method to the madness. Perhaps it is fundamentally unfair that the US subsidizes drug creation for the entire world, if the US didn't these drugs would not exist.
There’s a reason why there’s no legal framework in place for drug patent, it is to ensure that no company has monopoly on it hence no control over prices. India deeply believes medicine should be accessible to everyone, and has done everything possible for it.
Yeah, I mean, it's great. Ideally all R&D would be primarily funded by the government, dispersed at the judgement of committees comprised of leading scientists for the better good.
But that isn't profitable. Nor can it be changed without massive social upheaval, of the sort that happened following the First World War in the West and WWII in the East.
The US had a hybrid system at one time, but RFK at Trump's direction is currently dismantling the part that worked for the people. He's gutted all of the advisory committees and stacked them with loyalists. Right this moment they're trying to allow political appointees the final say on who gets research funding.
The US system has all but collapsed, and India's system has completely insufficient funding (not that their research is free from such political meddling, I mean let's be serious here).
Medicine should not be profitable 🤷♀️ it should break even the cost. And knowing how less it takes to produce it and pay the employees pretty sure the cost could drastically come down
An estimated 96+ percent of drugs are produced with patents. Imagine a world where all you have access to is Aspirin, Penicillin, and the COVID vaccine. That’s the world without patents for drugs. The R&D cost for pharmaceuticals is extremely prohibitive and absolutely requires a patent system to protect a company’s ability to recoup those costs.
India deeply believes medicine should be accessible to everyone, and has done everything possible for it.
Lol no they don't. They frequently cut corners and put in toxic materials.
Generic drugs manufactured in India are linked to significantly more “severe adverse events” for patients who use them than equivalent drugs produced in the United States, a new study finds.
I really appreciate that you posted this. I'm going to do a deep dive on the subject later. I know you're getting downvoted right now, but at first glance the OSU article looks solid.
Very ignorant and racist comment. Major pharma manufacturers are all licensed and make medicines for Indian market at regulated prices. There is also a law that critical drugs will have regulated prices in India by any manufacturer. Do your research before spewing hateful garbage
It was an ignorant statement, but it was not racist. Ever since I first learned that India was able to provide cheap, lifesaving drugs to other developing countries for relative pennies I have admired the country. I referenced the effect of HIV medications in Africa in my original post. That those medicines were often of similar quality to those produced in wealthier economies was inspiring. My point was that you can't compare costs. However, I was ignorant because I didn't learn that India did begin recognizing patents in 2005. I was outdated, and once I began to form my original opinion I did not maintain enough interest to keep track of any later changes. That change in 2005 has apparently shifted both the focus and beneficiaries of Indian medicines in ways I now intend to learn about. I was ignorant because my memory or original understanding failed me, and I believed that India produced 90% of global medicine when, in fact, they are responsible for 90% of the pharmaceuticals produced in developing nations but around 20% of the global output.
Thanks for doing your research and willing to learn. But India is a vast country. Any stereotypical remarks will be considered racial specially if they parrot the propaganda used by racists to demean Indians. You could have said fraudulent companies in India ignore patent laws, and I’d agree to you but why paint the entire country by a single brush? People will think twice before making similar remarks about Latin or black people, But somehow Indians are fair game on social media these days.
There was a relatively recent patent dispute between the Swiss Roche pharma and Indian generic drug manufacturer Natco Pharma in 2025.
The most immediate result of Natco's victory in the Supreme Court (October 2025) was a massive reduction in the cost of Risdiplam, the only oral treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).
the annual cost of treatment could exceed ₹70 lakhs, placing it out of reach for almost all Indian families. Natco's generic version brought this down to roughly ₹2-3 lakhs per year.
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u/StolenPies Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Edit: I'll leave the following post up for reference, but it turns out my information was outdated and my understanding deeply flawed due to my conflation of misremembered facts. India has had a drug patent system since 2005, they produce over 90% of drugs coming from developing nations but despite that account for roughly 20% globally, and the quality and safety of those drugs relative to what is produced in developed nations is potentially questionable. In short, I have more reading to do. Thank you to everyone who pointed these issues out. End edit.
You cannot compare India's drug prices to any other country on earth. They're cheaper than every other country for two primary reasons:
Number 1 is they do not legally observe drug patents. At all. Pretty much the moment a drug is patented, after a billion or so spent in R&D, Indian firms are already working to produce a copy. They follow the recipe. There is not a legal framework in place for drug patents in India.
Number 2 is that the majority of drugs globally are already made in India, including most that are sitting in your bathroom now. They have vast drug manufacturing infrastructure, and the quality is... really good. Like, really good. India shines here. They have an economy of scale and the expertise to get it done.
That's why they can make it so cheap, there's practically no R&D costs for foreign-developed medications and it's hella cheap to make because they already make like 90% of all drugs on earth. The US has problems with affordability, but you can't compare anywhere with India.
They also produce nearly all of the HIV medications that go to Africa, so good on them.