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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Sept21/20) Dear friends and colleagues, The Third World Network is pleased to announce the publication of a new title, Product Patent Protection, the TRIPS LDC Exemption and the Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Industry by Sudip Chaudhuri, in its Intellectual Property Rights Series. As a least developed country (LDC), Bangladesh is currently exempted from the requirements under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to grant patent protection for pharmaceutical products. Consequently, there is scope for the country’s pharmaceutical industry to manufacture and sell medicines whose production would otherwise be controlled by a patent-holding firm. This paper finds that this opportunity has been made use of to positive effect: in comparison with neighbouring India where pharmaceutical product patenting is in force, the market for several new pharmaceuticals in Bangladesh is more competitive and the medicines more affordable. Not only has this benefitted patients domestically, but Bangladesh has also played a key role in supplying essential medicines to other countries. For this potential to be fully realized, however, the Bangladesh government needs to support the technological development of its industry, particularly the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) sector. In addition, Bangladesh should maximize the use of TRIPS flexibilities for the freedom to operate in the pharmaceutical sector, which, as this paper shows, has had significant favourable impact thus far. The publication is available at https://twn.my/title2/IPR/ipr17.htm With
best wishes,
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