When generics turn into Big Pharma

Top generics firms, some from India, are charged with price-fixing and sleazy deals; Sun Pharma has paid up to settle claims

- LATHA JISHNU

IN THE old days, generics makers were the good guys. They took on Big Pharma, battled them in courts and forced government to deploy the laws that challenged the monopolies of multinationals to produce generic versions of life-saving drugs at a fraction of their original cost. They saved millions of lives.

We are speaking in the main about the Indian generics industry. It was adept at turning out quality versions of the medicines made by originator companies and the world looked up to it while the drug giants seethed and launched a no-holds barred attack on it and the Indian government. Much has changed since those halcyon days. Now we have the generic arms of multinationals that are among the big names of the industry, such as Novartis’s Sandoz and Pfizer’s Viatris, while generic companies have also grown into billion-dollar companies like Teva of Israel, the leader, and India’s Sun Pharmaceuticals, which is among the top five generic companies worldwide.