The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced that it will be discussing the impact of major pharmaceutical companies in a meeting set to take place this week.
The meeting, discussing consumer protection law and policy is set to take place from October 19th – 21st, and the tactics of companies such as Pfizer, Novartis and Roche is set to be discussed. The UNCTAD aims to make the benefits of globalization and trade expansion more equitable and the role of major pharmaceutical companies has sparked much criticism.
The World Trade Organization’s TRIPS (trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) policies require member states to implement minimum standards for intellectual property rights. The impact of this on pharmaceuticals – especially in the Global South, has been of much controversy.
This week, Doctors Without Borders refused a donation of one million vaccine doses from Pfizer, stating that “by giving the pneumonia vaccine away for free, pharmaceutical corporations can use this as justification for why prices remain high for others, including other humanitarian organizations and developing countries that also can’t afford the vaccine”. See more from Atlantic here.
Ebru Gokce, a UNCTAD economist said that the upcoming meeting will discuss anti-competitive practices by Big Pharma – such as paying competitors to delay or abandon the launch of generic drugs.
“The pharmaceutical industry presents such an important example of how intellectual property rights under certain circumstances may raise competition-related concerns," he said. "With some two billion people around the globe lacking access to essential medicines, keeping pharmaceutical markets fair and competitive will be critical to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals, especially goal 3 on health and well-being.”
See more on TRIPS & impacts on health from the WHO here.