Exploring the dynamics of new drug launch in pre-TRIPS India: A survival analysis approach Saradindu Bhaduri ♣ and Thomas Brenner ♠ Abstract: The small amount of literature on inter country diffusion of new drugs, focusing largely on industrialised countries, has primarily sought to address whether stringency in regulation influences delay of launch. Industrialised countries are, however, quite uniform in terms of a high share of systemic diseases and strong IPR protection. Tropical developing countries, on the other hand, are characterised by a high share of communicable diseases, and weaker forms of IPR protection. The growing literature on the diffusion of new drugs in developing countries indeed conjecture the importance of demand differences and market structure to shape the drug launch dynamics. This paper uses survival analysis technique to investigate the delay of new drug launch in India for drugs launched in the German market during 1990-2004. The paper finds that global commercial success of a new drug, first mover advantage, and the threat of imposition of strong IPR system shortens delay. Innovativeness of a new drug, however, has not impact on delay. This has important policy implications that are discussed. ♣ Centre for Studies in Science Policy, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Email: saradindu@mail.jnu.ac.in ♠ Department of Geography, Phillips University Marburg, Germany. Email: thomas.brenner@staff.uni-marburg.de Acknowledgement: to be written .