Case Study Dr. Narendran

[pic 4][pic 5]

DR. NARENDRAN’S DILEMMA

It was early January 2011. Dr. Narendran, the director of Indian Medicine College (IMC) in the south Indian city of Chennai, carefully studied the report before him; perhaps it would help clarify an issue that had cropped up, quite unexpectedly, three months earlier.1 He could still vividly recall his meeting with Dr. Ramkumar, associate professor and head of the Pharmacology Department of IMC in October 2010. Dr. Ramkumar informed him that he had developed a herbo-mineral Siddha2 cardiovascular product for coronary atherosclerosis, which reduced the need for commercial stents and other interventional methods.3 The product was not only non-invasive, but cost-effective as well, he added. Dr. Ramkumar’s next words caught him off guard. “Now, IMC has to ensure the intellectual property (IP) protection of the research and commercialize the formulation,” Dr Ramkumar said. He then gave Dr. Narendran a preliminary note prepared by a legal firm and a form that he had filled out in response (see Exhibit 2). He also added that the firm had told him that there was a 90% chance that IP protection would be granted.

Dr. Ramkumar’s request took Dr. Narendran by surprise. Although IMC had been conducting research in Siddha medicine since 2008, the question of protecting its IP had never come up.  This was unfamiliar territory. He asked Dr. Ramkumar what the process would cost. Dr. Ramkumar was not sure, but estimated that it might require an outlay of INR 25,000. Dr. Narendran did not have funds for this purpose, but he did have access to a development fund  of INR 100,000, which he could use. However, he was not sure how to handle such a request. IMC did not have a department or cell that could deal with a demand of this kind.

Dr. Ramkumar added that it was possible that the potential returns through commercialization would be significant, and that IMC could benefit financially as well as academically. He told the director that research institutions usually made arrangements with private agencies for the commercialization of their research.

Dr. Narendran realized that he was being asked to explore new areas; he had never before  given much thought to commercializing or protecting his own or the institute’s research. He briefly wondered what IMC’s research mandate had to do with such matters. In a career spanning 32 years, he had done some research, but his research had ended with a report to the sponsor and the publication of the results in a journal or in conference presentations. This approach had served him and the institutions at which he had worked well. He went through the information Dr. Ramkumar had given him, but found it difficult to interpret. His immediate

[pic 6]

1 The names of individuals and the name of the institute have been disguised to protect confidentiality.

2 Siddha is an ancient system of medicine associated with Tamil Nadu. See Exhibit 1 for more details.

3 Atherosclerosis is a medical condition in which an artery’s walls thicken due to deposits of fatty materials.  A stent  is an artificial tube inserted into an artery to counteract the constriction in blood flow due to the thickening of the artery.[pic 7]

Prepared by Professor Vijaya Sherry Chand, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Cases of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, are prepared as a basis for class discussion. They are not designed to present illustrations of either correct or incorrect handling of administrative problems.

© 2011 by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

thought was that whatever he decided had to be guided by IMCs’ mandate; at the same time, he realized that he had to give Dr. Ramkumar a suitable answer, since the other faculty members would be watching him closely.

Dr. Ramkumar had joined IMC in mid-2008 with a good record as a practitioner-cum- researcher. However, he did not mix very well with his colleagues. Dr. Narendran observed:4

His personality is that of a loner. He is often perceived as secretive and unwilling to share his knowledge. But he has good formulations, which he had developed before joining IMC. All his formulations are fundamentally sastric,5 but he has made many modifications; he is an experimenter. His cardiovascular formulation for atherosclerosis must have been developed before he came here. He has not done the work here; neither has he published this formulation in any journal. He generally does not discuss his experiments or results with me or his colleagues, though he maintains all the necessary records. He is reported to have developed a reasonably successful formulation for some kinds of infertility, for which he charges fairly heavily. He is very secretive about this, and no one else knows what this formulation is.

EDUCATION AND MEDICAL CARE AT IMC

IMC had been set up as a center for excellence in Siddha medicine with three objectives: to impart postgraduate education in Siddha and provide medical care through Siddha; to research various aspects of Siddha; and to develop, promote and propagate the science and  art  of Siddha. It was affiliated to a medical university and its curriculum was framed in accordance with the norms prescribed by the Central Council of Indian Medicine, New Delhi. As of 2010, IMC admitted 46 students every year into its six departments; one seat was set aside for Siddha graduates from other countries.6 Although IMC was launched in 2004 with staff members deputed by the state government, recruitment of full-time faculty took place only in 2008 and research activities began after that. IMC set up an Ethics Committee, an Animal Ethics Committee and a Research Committee, in line with Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines, by the middle of 2008. Teaching and hospital practice, however, had been significant from the institution’s inception.

IMC began operations with a small number of experts from the state government, who initially concentrated on education and on strengthening its outpatient department (OPD) and inpatient department (IPD) services.7 IMC started its OPD services in October 2004. Within a period of three months, it had set up six OPD rooms, one for each department. As of early 2011, the  OPD

[pic 8]

4 Excerpted from an interview with the case author.

5 Sastric preparations are those that are based on formulations prescribed in ancient texts or manuscripts. Since they have been in use for a long time, their effectiveness in treating various prescribed ailments is taken for granted.