A Patent Policy Proposal for Global Diseases

recently, in an effort to keep their prices low, many developing countries did not grant patents on new pharmaceutical products. Today, however, most countries have extended their patent laws to include pharmaceutical innovations,and in order to fulfill World Trade Organization membership requirements, the rest will soon follow. Public concern over the price of HIV/AIDS drugs in Africa has focused attention on this new global system and generated a debate between those who support the establishment of strong patent laws to protect pharmaceuticals in developing countries, and those who would weaken them. The choice does not, however, have to be limited to strong versus weak. The worldwide markets for drugs to treat cancer and malaria are very different and the global patent system would be improved by being tailored to these different markets. This policy brief outlines a proposal that would lower the price of pharmaceuticals that treat important global diseases in developing countries, while at the same time allowing patent protection to increase where it is most likely to lead to the creation of new products. The proposal requires no changes in international treaties—only minor changes to U.S. patent law— and would cost very little to implement. Jean Lanjouw