Intellectual Property Rights and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Intellectual Property Rights and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Patented medicines are not to blame for lack of access to life-saving drugs

Two bottles of a medicine

Two bottles of a medicine for liver patients, Epogen, one real (left) and one counterfeit. ( AP Images)

(The following article is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication, Focus on Intellectual Property Rights.)

Intellectual Property Rights and the Pharmaceutical Industry

By Judith Kaufmann

Many claim that more people do not have access to life-saving drugs because of high prices and that patent rights both increase prices and stand in the way of getting treatment to those who need it.

Both of these claims are false.

Drugs that cure AIDS and many other...