Generic Drugs Seen Limited in WikiLeaks Trade Document
By Brian Wingfield and Susan Decker - Nov 14, 2013
Access to cheaper drugs in other countries may be limited by a provision sought by the U.S. in a Pacific trade deal, according to patent specialists who reviewed a document exposed by the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy group.
The proposal would boost patent protections for brand-name medicines in some participating countries and curtail access to low-cost generic drugs, the specialists said after reading a 94-page document WikiLeaks said is a draft of the intellectual-property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership being negotiated by 12 nations, including the U.S. and Japan.
Patent safeguards give pharmaceutical makers such as Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Merck & Co. (MRK) the right to block competition from generic drugs for a set period to protect their research investments. U.S. negotiators are trying to balance preserving those barriers against the desire to make drugs more affordable and accessible in developing countries.
“Pharmaceutical companies are extremely important for job creation in the United States but we also have more important issues sometimes,” Robert Stoll, a former commissioner of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, said in an interview. “This is something that needs to be more transparent.”
European Union
The trade agreement, covering an area with $28 trillion in economic output, would be the largest accord in U.S. history, though it may be eclipsed by a separate pact that President Barack Obama’s administration is negotiating with the European Union. Other nations drafting the partnership are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
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