Pharmaceutical Patents Law - Research Paper Example

AIDS has become an epidemic in several countries, and most of these are developing countries. In the wake of this epidemic, the affected countries sought new drugs and better treatment. However, the large western pharmaceutical companies, that hold the patents for the drugs used in the treatment of AIDS, were not interested in allowing their drugs to be sold for a lesser cost, in developing countries.

This situation encouraged the developing countries to wage a battle against the concept of intellectual property rights, and this battle became focused on the pharmaceutical companies of the developed countries. According to the World Health Organization, a majority of people infected with HIV and AIDS live in developing countries.

The developing nations suffer from the proliferation of AIDS in their territory, and the problem has become endemic. The problem is rendered worse by the fact that most of the people infected with AIDS, cannot gain access to the required medication; because, these drugs are manufactured by Western pharmaceutical companies, which charge exorbitant prices for them.

There is considerable variation in the cost of drugs, which indicates the wrong functioning of the market delivery mechanisms. The differential pricing of the same product by different pharmaceutical companies provides a glaring malfunction. It has often been contented that pharmaceutical companies should provide essential drugs at an affordable cost to the poorest countries of the world. This is possible, only if there were an international agreement among all the pharmaceutical companies to supply drugs at cost to the poorest countries.

Such agreements between pharmaceutical companies could be contested as antitrust violations. In addition, low-priced drugs could be redirected to developed countries under parallel trade. Moreover, low pricing does not necessarily result in lower costs for patients. The cost of drugs reduces due to competition between pharmaceutical companies. Such competition can be increased by allowing more companies to foray into the pharmaceutical industry. This entails the liberalization of regulations and a liberal approach by governments. An efficient delivery mechanism coupled with efficient infrastructure is essential for providing a continuous supply of drugs to remote regions of the world.