The extension of intellectual property through secrecy of drugs registration: obstacles to the generic drug policy - DOI: 10.3395/reciis.v2i2.193en

Abstract

The pharmaceutical sector is characterized by a great oligopoly, with small and big transnational companies which operate in several countries and perform high levels of investment in research and development, which imply great barriers to the entry of new companies. It’s a sector in which appropriation of knowledge occurs principally through the patent of new drugs. Such patents allow monopoly of the developer company of the product over the same product during a determined period. The possibility of abusive practices from this monopoly leads the authorities to take measures for the control of prices and to guarantee the finitude of the patent. Therefore, the United States and the European Union are pressuring the other countries for the establishment of new measures, which go beyond the TRIPS Agreement, such as secrecy of drugs registration, in order to enlarge the monopoly of big pharmaceutical companies and retard the entry of generics

Keywords

• intellectual property
• patent
• generics
• drug registration