The United States Patent and Trademark Office is teaming up with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer to hold a workshop in Mumbai, India on 9 September on “intellectual property and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry.”
Presentations at the non-governmental session will include Dominic Keating of the US embassy in New Delhi speaking on “incremental innovation and evergreening” and “benefits of regulatory data protection and patent linkage; Dr P. Pushpangadan (holder of several patents that have led to new drug development) on “innovation – its importance for the patients”; and Aruna Dayal of Arpana Trust, Karnal, on “access to healthcare – the Arpana model.”
According to the meeting invitation, Pushpangadan pioneered a benefit-sharing model for the Kani tribe, and will “unravel the innovative process of drug discovery.”
USPTO representatives will “provide some insights into how India can realise its full potential through the appropriate legal and regulatory measures to reward innovation,” it said.
Arpana is focused on public-private partnerships to increase access to healthcare and medicines, according to the meeting invitation.