The “TRIPS
agreement requires developing nations to establish a restrictive Intellectual
property right regime, with exceptions for the safety of public health and the
promotion of medication availability. Nevertheless, as high-income
countries are determined to increase severe IPRs protection and
limit flexibilities, as they are devoted primarily to the
establishment of market monopoly at the detriment of competition and ability to
pay, limiting medicine accessibility. The paper showed that data
exclusivity is successfully imposed through the US FTAs, restricting the
introduction of generics, that would impair availability to medications in
underdeveloped economies and also constrain price competition. By partaking
in such trade agreements, poor nations lose freedom, notably in the health
sector. As a result, it is critical that international institutions get
increasingly proactive in analysing trade agreements to verify that they
do not contradict national charters or global trade accords.”