Macleod’s clopidogrel generic pills consignment seized at Paris: Reports

A generic drug consignment of 1.74 million tablets of anti-platelet drug clopidogrel from Mumbai-based Macleods Pharma have been seized at the Paris airport, as part of the ongoing confiscation of pharmaceutical products shipped from India at various European ports alleging patent violations.

Macleods Pharma’s consignment of clopidogrel pills was destined to Venezuela, reports said.

Off late, there have been reports of increasing incidence of seizures of Indian drug shipments meant for other countries at EU ports on charges of counterfeiting and patents infringement.

Indian generic shipments were siezed at various European ports including Miami, Germany, France and The Netherlands.

So far, over 15 generic drug consignments from Indian companies shipped to various markets Latin American and African countries including Columbia, Peru, Brazil and Nigeria, etc, were seized by the customs at the Amsterdam airport on charges of infringing the patent held by innovator companies in the Netherlands.

Generic drug consignments of all off-patent drugs to treat diseases including HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s, blood pressure, from Indian drugmakers such as Cipla, Aurobindo Pharma and Ind-Swift Laboratories were also reporteedly captured at the Paris airport in October.

In May, a consignment of 3.04 million tablets of generic anti-bacterial amoxicillin worth €28,000, from Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Labs destined for Vanuatu, was seized at Frankfurt airport in Germany.

Eurpopean authorities allege patent violations in the drugs in transit.The EU countries began implementing local patent rules rigidly since last year..

The new EU rules stipulate that any product with a vilid patent that has been granted in EU countries, if being transported through their countries, is also liable for confiscation under their patent law.

However, Indian generic companies said that most of these drugs shipped to countries like Brazil, Peru, Columbia, etc where these drugs are not patented.

Recently, the customs authorities at Rotterdam in the Netherlands had seized shipments of the generic drug losartan, which was manufactured in India and was in transit to Brazil. Losartan, indicated to treat high blood pressure, is not under patent protection either in India or Brazil.

Indian government authorities have been engaged in negotiations with EU officials at different international forums during the last several months to find an amicable solution to this issue.

The Indian government has decided to a series to measures including filing a complaint at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the European Union (EU) on the issue of seizure of Indian drug shipments at EU ports.

The commerce ministry, under government of India is also been considering certain retaliatory actions like motivating Indian pharma exporters to EU countries to stop using KLM -the airline based in the Netherlands – aircrafts for dispatching their pharma export consignments to European countries.

KLM is one of the most widely used airline by Indian companies who despatch their cargo to European nations and Latin American and African countries.

As one of the leading pharma exporters in the world, Indian pharma companies send huge volumes of APIs and finished formulations using KLM airlines to different parts of the world.

Hence, if Indian companies stop using KLM for shipping their cargo it could result in huge losses to the Dutch airline, reports said.

Generic delivery is legitimate under WTO rules, Oxfam and the independent Health Action International report say.

However, the EU authorities continue to argue that they need to check for counterfeits as these are dangerous for public health.

EU is increasing pressure on developing country governments to surrender their rights to obtain affordable, generic medicines in order to protect public health, even though these rights are guaranteed under global trade rules, the report says.

European Union (EU) is showing interests in big drug companies before people who cannot access indispensable medicines.

“The EU is guilty of double standards,” says Elise Ford, Oxfam head of EU advocacy. “One rule for the rich and another for the poor. A crackdown on European pharmaceutical prices is happening alongside a concerted effort to further push intellectual property rules that prevent poor countries from buying affordable medicines”.

The seizing policy is also increasing the cost of medicine. Millions of poor people have to pay for medicines out of their own pockets, so even a small price rise can make them unaffordable.

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