Day December 19, 2018

Pharmaceutical Import Prices Rise More Rapidly After Countries Enact Data Exclusivity

This post will demonstrate that prices of pharmaceutical imports have grown more quickly after countries adopted data exclusivity in their laws. It is also intended to show that trade data can be a useful source of information for studies of drug pricing. The post is based on my presentation given at pre-Global Congress workshop on empirical research into the effect of TRIPS-Plus trade agreements on access to medicines.

The Trump Administration’s New Green Paper is Full of Give-Aways to Big Pharma

On December 6, the Trump Administration released a new Return on Investment Initiative Draft Green Paper full of give-aways to Big Pharma and other private companies that piggyback on U.S. funded research and reap monopoly rights to sell resulting innovations at bloated prices. These IP-maximalist proposals, including curtailing of government-use rights and march-in rights with respect to technology transfer of federally funded research, (if implemented) would inevitably lead to higher prices contrary to President Trump’s rhetoric about lowering drug prices.