ISAS Working Papers

Adherence to the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) have had varied impacts across the world, and concerns of adverse effects on public welfare, especially in the context of the pharmaceutical sector, are largely debated. In this paper, we try to analyse the effects of TRIPS on public welfare in the context of the pharmaceutical sector. We take a closer look at the policies of some developing countries and their usage of the flexibilities that TRIPS allows. The cases of China, India and Brazil (three major players in the global pharmaceutical industry) are studied. China, which has not used the TRIPS flexibilities, has benefited from appropriate technology transfer and Foreign Direct Investment in Research &Development. The need for FDI in R&D in India and Brazil as potential destinations of research on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is brought out. We conclude that the effects of TRIPS on public welfare are critical for countries which do not have the ability to use the flexibilities. At a time when trade and investment treaties are mostly aimed at stricter commitments on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) than the TRIPS, such countries need to negotiate appropriate investment and knowledge-sharing commitments from their developed counterparts so as not to be adversely affected by agreeing to demands on bending IPR laws.