Bio-business in brief: a case for new drugs at generic prices from India

The current drug discovery paradigm in the West is constrained in what it can do, primarily due to the funding model. Here we envisage a hypothetical non-governmental, non-profit organization called the Centre for Affordable Medicine. By sourcing innovation from a network of academic and corporate partners, and working primarily in India, it could lower the cost of innovation. Funding could be from a variety of players that expect a social, not financial, return. The drugs thus developed could be licensed out to a limited number of generic pharma companies, and thus be available at generic prices immediately.