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4 November 2015Big Pharma

WTO 'expected to announce' 17-year drug patent waiver for LDCs

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is expected to announce a 17-year extension to an agreement that exempts the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs) from a duty to grant patents covering pharmaceutical drugs, an activist group has claimed.

In the last couple of weeks, representatives at the WTO have been negotiating a provision for LDCs exempting them from granting patent rights for life saving drugs.

LDCs, which are defined as such by the United Nations (UN), are currently exempt from granting patent rights directed to life saving drugs under an agreement made in 2013. However, the agreement is due to expire on January 1, 2016.

Currently, 48 nations are classified as LDCs.

Last month, LSIPR reported that the nations, led by representatives from Uganda, had tabled a motion at the WTO asking it to introduce a permanent exemption for administering such rights for as long as countries are classified as LDCs.

According to Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), the WTO is expected to announce a 17-year extension to the agreement on Friday, November 6. If approved it would see the exemption continue until 2033.

The WTO confirmed to LSIPR that it would announce details of its plans on Friday but gave no clue as to the term of protection.

The US initially opposed any extension to the agreement but received criticism from the presidential hopeful for the Democratic Party Bernie Sanders.

James Love, director of the KEI, welcomed the reported extension, but said that the compromise was a “disappointment” overall.

“LDCs need to amend their patent laws, so that the ability to make, import and export generic drugs will not be restricted by drug patents. Any temporary waiver, even one for 17 years, makes it less likely that governments will change the laws,” he said.

“The previous waiver did not lead to the types of legal reforms that make sense for very poor countries, for that reason,” Love added.


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Africa
6 November 2015   The World Trade Organization has granted permission for the world’s Least Developed Countries to be exempt from administering and enforcing patents directed to pharmaceutical drugs.
Biotechnology
20 October 2020   Talks on a landmark proposal to waive IP rights for vaccines and treatments related to COVID-19 have stalled, following the failure of the World Trade Organisation to conclude an agreement.

More on this story

Africa
6 November 2015   The World Trade Organization has granted permission for the world’s Least Developed Countries to be exempt from administering and enforcing patents directed to pharmaceutical drugs.
Biotechnology
20 October 2020   Talks on a landmark proposal to waive IP rights for vaccines and treatments related to COVID-19 have stalled, following the failure of the World Trade Organisation to conclude an agreement.