Weak patent laws endanger local drug research

Weak patent protection for brandname drugs is undermining the Government's aim to create a knowledge-based economy, the head of a major pharmaceutical company claims.

Mark Crotty, New Zealand general manager of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group, said the Government had succeeded in cutting the price of publicly funded drugs and increasing the number of prescriptions but at the expense of research and development. "There has been very little done to encourage more research yet New Zealand is in a good position to undertake research," said Crotty.

New Zealand's patent laws were much weaker than those of its major trading partners, especially Australia, in Crotty's view. Yet companies were delivering drugs to New Zealand at the best value for money anywhere.

Before the creation of Pharmac in 1993, Kiwi pharmaceutical companies were getting higher prices than Australia. "Now we are getting prices 50 per cent lower than ... the average of OECD countries," said Crotty.

He said the Government-business partnership had not worked well in his industry for many years. "The Government continues to take a short-term view of our industry. It is gradually putting at risk the potential of capturing a much larger slice of the pharmaceutical research spend or ... losing what is currently spent in New Zealand."

He questioned whether the Government had the skills to put its growth strategy into action and said New Zealand was not doing enough to stay competitive in global markets. "In the Asian regions, governments offer competitive tax relief schemes to attract increased investments."