New Delhi: A Parliamentary committee has asked the government to be cautious against the tendency among multinational companies (MNCs) to patent the formulations developed by Indian scientists and sell them at prices that cannot be afforded by most Indians.

"The committee was told that many multinational corporations could help in pharmaceutical research and development," the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests said in a report on the Department of Science and Technology.

However, most of the formulations developed under the exemptions given by the government, are taken by the multinationals to their head offices abroad and patented there, the committee noted with "anguish and pain".

These are marketed as international brands and at international rates despite the fact that such formulations are produced by Indian scientists with the help of Indian tax payers' money, it said.

"Yet the benefits are reaped by the multinational drug companies who sell the products at a price which most of the Indians can not afford," it said.

Taking note of the fact that the department has earmarked Rs 150 crores as corpus fund for pharmaceutical research and development, it said, "the benefits derived from the funds provided by the government should be utilised correctly."

PTI