Former Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks PH Kurian
A civil servant who issued the country’s first and only compulsory licence (CL) on a kidney cancer drug — paving the way for a less-expensive version of the medicine to come in — PH Kurian (67) , has passed away in Kerala. Colleagues and pro-health groups remember the low-profile man whose judgement under India’s amended Patents Act, was not just high-profile, but also stood the test of intense legal scrutiny in the country and abroad.
Kurian was Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks and his last judgement in 2012 issuing a CL on multinational company Bayer’s kidney cancer drug Nexavar, allowed Hyderabad’s Natco Pharma to make the medicine at a price that was about 97 per cent less, but with a royalty payment to the innovator.
“This is India’s first and only CL,” a government source who did not want to be named told businessline. The judgement was rooted in law, not emotion, the source recalled, and the CL was granted on the grounds that the company had not “worked its patent” and provided the medicine to patients who needed it. Allowing a domestic company to make the drug, improved access and affordability for patients, the source added. The CL has since become a sore point for innovator companies, with foreign governments’ trade departments often raising the use of CL as a point of concern.
“Kurian understood the spirit of the Patents Act …He was the only one in the government who actually respected the will of the people, because this was the will of the Parliament, and rarely do we have these kinds of legislations which are passed in Parliament unanimously,” says Biswajit Dhar, Development economist and former professor JNU. “We will all be forever be indebted to Mr Kurian for what he did … He took it on himself, almost …to get the whole thing done,” he added..
Dr B Ekbal, retired Professor of neuro-surgery and health activist, adds that Kurian was a public servant who put public health before patent rights. “Kurian’s role has never been recognised,” says Ekbal, adding that the former Patent Controller stayed low-key and “never advertised” his role in the milestone moment in India’s Patent history. The “momentous decision” reduced the monthly treatment cost for kidney and liver cancer patients “from over ₹2.8 lakh to just ₹8,800, making life-saving medication accessible,” he said. The “meticulous 68-page ruling” established a precedent for utilising patent law flexibilities to safeguard public health, he added.
No more CLs have been issued since, “due to immense multinational pressure,” he alleged, adding that “Kurien’s bold decision remains a globally recognised milestone in making high cost essential medicines affordable to the people.”
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