The next session of our BRICs Seminar will be held – online – on March 20th, 6:00 PM Paris Time. Link to the webinar: https://zoom.us/j/96809736204

We will receive:

Sudip Chaudhuri (Indian Institute of Management of Kolkata)

On the following topic:

“Revisiting the Question of Local Production of Medical Products
in Developing Countries in the light of COVID-19 Pandemic“

Abstract:

Import-dependent developing countries suffered tremendously during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the inability to secure international supplies of vaccines. The importance of diversifying production is now acknowledged both nationally and internationally. The presentation will critically review the initiatives underway to develop the vaccine and pharmaceutical industries with special reference to African countries which have been among the worst affected during the pandemic.

Despite intense deliberations and negotiations in different international forums, attempts to remove intellectual property barriers to facilitate the manufacturing of medical products in developing countries have not yet succeeded. While these efforts need to continue, it is also essential for developing countries to take proactive steps for developing manufacturing capacities. The elimination of IP barriers does not automatically lead to the creation of such capacities. The abolition of product patent protection in India and Bangladesh, for example,
has contributed to the development of pharmaceutical industries in these countries. In both the
countries specific steps were taken before the abolition which empowered the local firms to
take advantage of an environment free of patent restrictions.

Notable progress has been made in creating capacities for vaccine manufacturing in Africa. But
despite a long history of vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing and in spite of some
incentives that have been put in place to support the industry in several African countries, the
overall impact has been disappointing in the past. But the post COVID-19 environment is quite
different from the past. It is important to understand the constraints under which the African
countries operate and also appreciate the changes in the environment that have emerged for
sustainable development of the industry.

Here is the link to Sudip’s Paper : Paper-Sudip-Industrial-policy-Covid-19-Dec-2023

About the Author:

Professor Sudip Chaudhuri is a Retired Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. He is an Indian national and currently lives in Kolkata, India.

His research interests include intellectual property regime, pharmaceutical industry, industrialization and economic development in developing countries. He has published widely including a book on WTO and India’s Pharmaceuticals Industry: Patent Protection, TRIPS and Developing Countries, Oxford University Press.

He has done commissioned studies for various organizations including the World Health Organization, Geneva, United Nation Development Programme, New York, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna, the South Centre, Geneva, the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India.

He has participated in policy dialogues in different forums in different countries and covered diverse topics such as R&D and innovation, industrial policies, price policies and product patent regimes. Promoting local production of pharmaceutical products in developing countries has been one of the major areas of his recent research. He has written several papers/reports on policies and strategies in general and also specifically on the history and experiences relating to the pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh, India, Ghana and Tanzania.