PIJIP Director Sean Flynn has long served as an advisor to NGOs and governments on access to medicines issues. PIJIP hosts an annual training of judges from Argentina on patents on access to medicines. Professor Flynn serves on a UNDP panel of experts on IP and Competition Law. Mike Palmedo is participating in a collaborative research project to promote study of the impact of Free Trade Agreement pharmaceutical protections on access to medicine.
Access to Medicine
Training Partnership with the Academy of Exchange and Judicial Studies
PIJIP and the Buenos Aires-based Academy of Exchange and Judicial Studies have been holding an annual training for Argentinian judges on patents, innovation and health since 2012.
Lecturers for the training have included PIJIP Professors Jonas Anderson and Sean Flynn, Juez Dr. Ricardo Li Rosi (director General, AIEJ), Dr. Luis Almagro (Secretary General, Organization of American States), Prof. Carlos Correa (Exectuive Director, South Centre), and Prof. Xavier Seuba (Academic Coordinatro, Centre d'Études Internationales de la Propriété Intellectuelle).
Evaluating the Impact of Data Exclusivity on the Price per Kilogram of Pharmaceutical Imports
This study by PIJIP Postdoc Fellow Michael Palmedo estimates the impact of data exclusivity on the price of pharmaceutical imports.
Data exclusivity is a form of intellectual property protection that prevents generic entry by preventing generic firms from relying on the originator’s test results to win regulatory approval. It has been required by every trade agreement the U.S. has negotiated since the creation of the WTO.
This study analyzes pharmaceutical import prices for a set of 42 countries between 1996 and 2010, a time period during which many enacted new laws requiring data exclusivity. The annual increase in price per kilogram of drug imports for these countries was grew 2.4 to 4.5 percentage points higher after the implementation of data exclusivity.
Using Competition Law to Promote Access to Medicine
Sean Flynn, with Carlos Correa, Jonathan Berger, and Natasha Nyak. Published by the UN Development Programme (2015).
This resource provides practical guidance on using competition law and policy in LMIC settings to increase access to affordable health technologies. The guidebook provides a number of model interpretations of key aspects of competition law, and uses country case studies to examine the successes and challenges experienced in using competition law and policy.
Webinars : Studying the Empirical Impact of TRIPS-Plus FTA provisions on Access to Healthcare
A series of occasional webinars organized by Michael Palmedo and Deborah Gleeson (La Trobe University) to promote the empirical study of the impact TRIPS-Plus rules in trade agreements have had on access to health goods.
