50% rejection rate for iPhone casings produced in India shows Apple’s challenge

Not true.

The first modern synthetic drug to be developed in India was Urea Stibamine in 1922 by UN Brahmachari against visceral leishmaniasis.3 Visceral leishmaniasis was a severe health burden during the early part of the 20th century, and it was a life saving drug for a large section of the population. Historically, it was the second drug developed against an infectious disease after Salversan (against Syphillis) and well before penicillin or sulfa drugs. It is still in use in many countries in a modified form.

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In spite of many odds, Indian pharmaceutical and biotech companies have been able to pile up an impressive array of more than 120 new chemical entities (NCEs) currently progressing in various preclinical and clinical stages of developments. A few examples are given below. In June 2013, Zydus Cadila launched saroglitazar (Lipaglyn), the first glitazar in the world to be approved for the treatment of dyslipidemia or hypertriglyceridemia in patients with type 2 diabetes. The drug, a dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonist, controls lipids by reducing triglycerides and LDL cholesterol and increasing HDL cholesterol. It also shows considerable reduction in fasting plasma glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin in a 4 mg daily dose. Earlier, in April 2012, Ranbaxy launched India’s first domestically developed antimalarial drug, Synriam. A fixed dose combination of arterolane with piperaquine, Synriam was developed as a simplified single-dose once-a-day therapy for 3 days for the treatment of acute, uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in adults.

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Twelve new drugs have gotten Drug Controller General (India) approval from CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, that includes “Centchroman”, marketed as “Saheli”, a nonsteroidal oral contraceptive pill.7 A synthetic antimalarial molecule of the endoperoxide family 97/78 from this institute is currently undergoing phase I clinical trial. In the cardiovascular area, two synthetic molecules, S007-867 and S002-333, have been developed as potent inhibitors of collagen induced platelet adhesion and aggregation that can find therapeutic applications in patients of coronary artery disease and thrombotic cerebral stroke. CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, in partnership with Cadila Pharmaceuticals, has developed a new combination drug for TB in 2009, named Risorine.8 In CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, an herbal formulation has been developed for the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia9 and is currently being marketed under the brand name “Prostalyn”. Bacosides-enriched standardized extract of the herb Bacopa monnieri, commonly known as Brahmi, has been developed by CSIR-CDRI, Lucknow, to enhance memory and learning. The product that has been licensed to M/s Lumen Marketing Co., Chennai, is being sold under different brand names in different Asian and European countries. In the area of biologicals, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, developed recombinant streptokinase, a “smart” clot buster that has been licensed to Nostrum, a USA based company. The protein therapeutic is being progressed through the clinical phases in India.

Reference:

Balganesh T, Kundu TK, Chakraborty TK, Roy S. Drug discovery research in India: current state and future prospects. ACS Med Chem Lett. 2014 May 23;5(7):724-6. doi: 10.1021/ml500183c. PMID: 25050153; PMCID: PMC4094254. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4094254/

As you cast aspersions on others who might be corrupt, please think about your collusion / readiness to bribe and what that says about yourself.

Yes this is classic game theory at play. And it’s true for all “low-trust” countries with shoddy rule of law. It doesn’t take decades to change behaviour though. I have seen first-hand traffic behaviour improving in my city when cameras were installed at every road intersection and fines were automatically sent to rule breakers.