I am a master in India

Chapter 43 The Biggest Gangster
The narrow storefront wasn't large, but it was deep. Both walls were filled with various medicine packaging boxes, and the aisle in the middle was wide enough for only one person to stand.

"Sir, what medicine do you need? I have everything here." A man with a typical Indian beard greeted them warmly.

Ron handed him the list without further ado, "Do you have these medicines?"

"Yes, we have everything! How much do you need?" The pharmacy owner's shrewd eyes kept scanning Ron and Luca.

One is a local, the other is a foreigner, which makes him hesitate. It is easy to get caught if he kills the fat sheep, but it would be a pity not to kill it.

"Let us see the medicine first."

"No problem!" The shop owner tilted his neck to another assistant, who immediately walked into the inner room.

About five minutes later, the man came back barefoot, carrying a cloth bag.

"Look, it's all here."

The shop owner spread out the cloth bag on the counter, and a pile of capsules and pills were exposed to the air.

"God!" Luca gasped, and Ron's expression was also very interesting.

These medicines were not packaged in any way, and some of the capsules even had signs of melting on their outer coverings. The surface of the white tablets was also covered in stains.

"You sell your medicines to others just like that?"

"Of course not, we have packaging." The shop owner reached out and picked up a cardboard box from the ground, then gestured to Ron and the others.

Ron and Luca looked at each other and saw the shock and absurdity in each other's eyes.

"When we talk about packaging, we mean something like the one on your wall, with the name, instructions, and the brand of the place of origin."

"OK, this is also available, but it will be more expensive."

"What's the price?"

"For treating tumors, 800 rupees a bottle. For fighting cholesterol, 450 rupees a box."

"Ron, this price is so cheap that it makes me a little uneasy." Luca said quietly in English.

"How effective are they? Are they exactly the same as patent medicines?" Ron looked at the shop owner.

"Same, exactly the same, there's absolutely no problem with Indian medicine!"

"Let's go." Ron pulled Luca and left the pharmacy without looking back.

The shop owner was still behind the counter, lowering the price by 700 rupees and 500 rupees.

"Damn, that's cheap! They cost thousands of dollars in Europe. Why is that?"

"Because this is India, the Indian government doesn't care about the patents of you capitalists."

Many people think that generic drugs are the product of illegal plagiarism and copying, but in fact they are legal.

It is not only legal in India, but also in the United States. Even generic drugs are first produced by American pharmaceutical companies.

Generic drugs are similar drugs produced by other pharmaceutical companies after the patent protection period of the original drug has expired.

They are almost identical in efficacy, quality, effects and indications, with the highest similarity reaching 99.99%.

According to international practice, generic drug companies wait until the patent expires before starting to imitate brand-name drugs.

But India is different. It is a kingdom of God on earth, and it has many weird things going on.

In the 1960s and 1970s, due to poor living conditions, the average life expectancy of Indians was only in their forties.

Most poor people cannot afford any basic medical expenses, and the entire country can't even make a cold medicine.

There is no way around it, people have to live, and survival is the greatest human right, so the female leader Gandhi simply let herself go.

Since we can't afford imported drugs, we just imitate them. We imitate the entire line of drugs, from the most basic anti-inflammatory drugs to high-end drugs for treating cancer.

The patent protection period is 20 years? Sorry, our Indian law does not stipulate this.

India specifically states in its Patent Law that it only protects process patents for drugs, not product patents.

What does this mean? Simply put, it means protecting the process but not the results.

The drug itself is not patented, only the manufacturing process itself. This allows India to skip the R&D process and legally produce low-cost generic drugs by tracing back to the source from the finished product.

For example, for Pfizer's anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor, Indian pharmaceutical companies only need to add some so-called "active factors" in the same process flow, which can perfectly avoid Pfizer's patent protection.

After all, the process is different, and this is clearly stipulated in our Indian laws.

To put it bluntly, it's just hooliganism.

The Indian government not only favors its own pharmaceutical companies in law, but also has various biases in policies.

After the 70s, tens of thousands of generic drug factories sprang up in India within just a few years. Anti-cancer drugs, high blood pressure medications, were all sold at rock-bottom prices in India.

However, due to the large number of pharmaceutical factories and the traditional skills of Indians, the quality of many generic drugs is questionable.

The drugstore that Ron and the others just went to probably made something from some unknown small factory.

He wants to make money, but he is not here to kill people.

“The real pharmaceutical market isn’t in the pharmacies on the street; that’s where street vendors run their business.”

"Ron, do you have a better channel?" Luca's eyes lit up.

"Remember what Mary said about me?"

"what?"

"Solve other people's problems."

"Oh, yes, foreigners come to you when they have trouble."

"Anything that can be solved in a pharmacy is not a problem. Follow me."

Ron didn't wander around Pharmacy Street. He took Luca into an alley and after going around in circles, they arrived in front of an ordinary small building.

"Listen, the guy living in there is called Pant, and he's a drug dealer. He can get drugs from all the well-known pharmaceutical companies in India, but his clients are mostly very special."

"Special?" Luca keenly caught the key word.

"Yes, he usually does well in conflict zones."

"Ron, you..you mean" Luca stammered.

"The Arab region, Africa, you know."

This is the person Johnny introduced. Anyone who can do this business is more or less related to the black market.

Ron knocked on the closed metal door and soon a servant came to open it.

"Johnny introduced me." Ron handed a note to the other party.

The servant took the note and turned to close the door.

"Ron, will this work?"

"Be patient. Sometimes you have to learn to keep your head down in India."

Just as Luca was looking around nervously, the metal door opened again.

"The master lets you in."

"Thank you."

Following the servants, Ron and Luca crossed the yard and headed towards the main room at the back.

This place is bigger than I imagined. In the open space in the yard, there are two security guards taking a nap under a tree.

It was not until he reached the innermost part that Ron saw the owner of the house, Panter. He had dark skin, a fat body, and a bulging belly that was even more terrifying than that of a pregnant woman.

He was munching on banana splits and drinking his sweetened office tea when Ron and Luca came in.

"Would you like some?" He pointed to the banana slices in front of him.

Ron sat down and started eating without saying a word. Luca had no choice but to sit down with them.

Only when the two of them were showing off their skills did a smile appear on Pant's face.

"Johnny said you saved him."

"He had bad luck that time." Ron wiped his mouth.

"I think he is very lucky." Pant laughed.

Ron also laughed, and finally Luca, who didn't understand what was going on, also laughed foolishly.

"I like you, Ron. I heard you're a doctor?"

"If you mean that ugly scar on Johnny's shoulder, then I am, barely."

Pant laughed again, "I now believe you are Johnny's friend. Let's talk business."

Ron and Luca cheered up, knowing they had passed the test.

(End of this chapter)