Research Commission on the Economic and Legal Aspects of Pharmaceutical Patent Exploitation (CRELBF)

The ongoing discussions at the Twelfth Ministerial Conference of the WTO (World Trade Organization) regarding a possible relaxation of the TRIPS agreements, aimed at facilitating access to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests for COVID-19, have reignited the debate on the extent to which the current regulatory framework for intellectual property protection may hinder global access to pharmaceutical products—particularly for low-income nations and during global health crises. The issue of balancing public health interests, including access to safe and high-quality products and technologies, with the pharmaceutical industry’s need for competitiveness and innovation is not new. However, the pandemic has intensified opposing positions, creating a climate of political tension within the WTO conference.

Growth and innovation in the pharmaceutical sector largely depend on a commercial environment capable of sustaining continuous research and industrial competitiveness. Intellectual property rights serve as essential incentives for companies to continue developing and testing new drugs, as well as expanding the scope and safety of existing ones. The protection of new inventions is ensured through patents, which grant exclusive rights, thereby compensating for the high costs of research, development, and innovation borne by companies. At the same time, patents make inventions publicly available, paving the way for the introduction of generic drugs once the patent expires. The continued existence of such protections ensures that pharmaceutical companies can allocate substantial resources to research, often achieving results in record time, as demonstrated by the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines.

The possibility of easing TRIPS agreements in response to the global COVID-19 crisis—allowing developing countries to authorize vaccine production without the consent of the rights holders—was proposed by South Africa and India at the end of 2020. The initiative initially received support from the Biden administration but later faced opposition from the EU, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, which expressed concerns about the potential impact on continued pharmaceutical innovation. Regardless of the specific reference to COVID-19 in the current WTO discussions, the debate has rekindled discussions on the global exploitation of pharmaceutical patents and the need to find a balance between public health and commercial interests—one that can only be achieved through broad consensus.

The scope and objective of this Research Commission, following an economic and legal analysis of the issue, are to foster the widest possible discussion and cooperation on this matter and to generate proposals capable of reconciling public health needs with the protection of intellectual property and market dynamics.