What i find really amazing is the disparity between the thoughts of folks on this forum and the pharma industry friends i meet with........Most of these guys see great times ahead....think the FDA issues are short term, are excited about the CRAMs opportunities.....

Yet another lawsuit. I wonder what this and similar cases does for our image as a nation wanting to be recognised for its intellectual prowess as opposed to a source of cheap labour, copy cats, and patent infringers.

Originally posted by subu76 Hitesh, this just means that Big Pharma is taking notice of Indian players.   This is a regular phenomenon in software and pharma. Teva also has to undergo patent infringement suits all the time.

Subu, one thing (among millions ) that I can't figure out is how this entire off-patent thing works.

Let's say Big_Pharma_Co (BPC) has done some research, trials, etc. and now has a patented drug all approved for sale.

As per the patent, I assume BPC has the sole rights to produce & market the drug. Is this correct?

After some time, the patent protection ceases and the generics move in.

My question is this: why can't BPC, which already has the knowhow, and presumably the manufacturing capacity, FDA approval, etc., continue to produce and market the drug as a generic at the generic rate? Won't they have a headstart over the Indian / Israeli companies?

Sometimes the existing player can even pay off the generics guy.