The recent move by the Modi government to make prescribing of generics compulsory has raised a lot of hackles. The objections have been pretty predictable. Obviously, the pharma companies are up in arms because they make most of their money from selling branded drugs. If this option is taken away from them, they're going to have to look for alternative means of generating revenue, and having to change a highly profitable business model is not easy for large corporates. Once the law gets teeth, it will no longer be business as usual, which is why they're upset.
They are worried that their business will get commoditized and their margins will shrink. Since pharma CEOs are powerful, lots of observers are understandably cynical about the prospects of these new rules being implemented. Their belief is that they will be diluted so much that they will remain a toothless tiger. Since the…
