Access to medicines: US democrat lawmakers oppose intellectual property rules in the USMCA restraining access to affordable biosimilars
On July 11, 2019, US democrat lawmakers signed a letter addressed to US Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer, expressing strong opposition (more...)
Mainstreaming or Dilution? Intellectual Property and Development in WIPOBy Nirmalya Syam
In 2007 Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) unanimously adopted a set of 45 recommendations which constitute the WIPO Development Agenda. (more...)
BAPA+40 is an Impetus to the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable DevelopmentBy Yuefen LI
The United Nations Second High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40) not only gave an impetus to the further expansion of South-South and Triangular (more...)
The most expensive drug in the history of the pharmaceutical industryBy Germán Velásquez
On May 27, 2019 the US FDA gave marketing authorization for Zolgensma gene therapy, from the Swiss firm Novartis. The price of the drug, administered in a single dose, is 2.125 (more...)
Time for a Collective Response to the United States Special 301 Report on Intellectual PropertyBy Viviana Muñoz-Tellez, Nirmalya Syam and Thamara Romero
This policy brief discusses the annual Special 301 report issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (more...)
Improving Transfer Pricing Audit Challenges in Africa through Modern Legislation and RegulationsBy Thulani Shongwe
Auditing multinational enterprises often involves a broad range of complex technical issues, and transfer pricing (TP) is often the most important one. (more...)
The USMCA must be amended to ensure access to affordable drugs in MexicoBy Maria Fabiana Jorge
The intellectual property rights (IPRs) chapter of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) grants longer and broader monopolies to originator pharmaceutical companies than those (more...)
UN tax committee gets a boost through new working methodsBy Abdul Muheet Chowdhary
The UN in May published a document titled ‘Practices and Working Methods for the Committee Of Experts On International Cooperation In Tax Matters’. For those who believe that the (more...)
‘Phase 1B’ of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) negotiationsBy Peter Lunenborg
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which entered into force on 30 May 2019, represents a unique collaborative effort by African countries to bolster regional and (more...)