Samira Guennif

Catching up in the Pharmaceutical Sector: Lessons from Case Studies of India and Brazil

Until recently, economists studying economic development have tended to consider it a universal process, or focussed their attention on common aspects. This book originates from the growing recognition of significant sectoral differences in economic development and examines the catching-up process in five different economic sectors: pharmaceuticals, telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, software, and agro-food industries. Each of these sector studies explore the learning and catch-up processes in various developing countries, in order to identify both the common features, and those which differ significantly across sectors and nations. The authors pay particular attention to China, India, Brazil, Korea and Taiwan.

From knowledge to individual action. Confidence, the hidden face of uncertainty. A rereading of the works of Knight and Keynes

The works of Knight (1921) and Keynes (1921, 1936) seek to clarify confusion about uncertainty. According to these authors, a precise analysis of uncertainty is required, in order to obtain a clear significance of the concept and understand the consequences for the decision process. Consequently, Knight and Keynes study the content of the decision process in uncertainty and converge towards similar views on the mobilization of confidence. Their works thus go beyond a simple examination of uncertainty, by also throwing light on the role and function of confidence in economic analysis. These works demonstrate that confidence is the prerequisite for individual action under uncertainty.

Is Compulsory Licensing Bad for Public Health? Some Critical Comments on Drug Accessibility in Developing Countries

As one of the flexibilities provided by the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) establishing minimum standards for the protection of property rights, compulsory license (CL) represents a means towards the protection of public health issues within a context of stringent protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), most notably in poor-resource settings. However, recent literature asserts that CL constitutes a serious limitation to the full enjoyment of property rights by innovators and may therefore threaten drug accessibility in developing countries. This paper outlines the impact of CL on drug accessibility in developing countries by addressing the three main dimensions of accessibility (availability, affordability and quality) and proceeding to a literature survey of key arguments for and against CL. It concludes that CL inhibits neither the availability of essential drugs nor the affordability of life-saving treatments or the supply of high-quality drugs in developing countries, in particular antiretroviral drugs.

Intellectual Property, Pharmaceuticals and Public Health

This up-to-date book examines pharmaceutical development, access to medicines, and the protection of public health in the context of two fundamental changes that the global political economy has undergone since the 1970s, the globalization of trade and production and the increased harmonization of national regulations on intellectual property rights.

Globalization, Intellectual Property Rights, and Pharmaceuticals: Meeting the Challenges to Addressing Health Gaps in the New International Environment

This up-to-date book examines pharmaceutical development, access to medicines, and the protection of public health in the context of two fundamental changes that the global political economy has undergone since the 1970s, the globalization of trade and production and the increased harmonization of national regulations on intellectual property rights.

A Status Report on the Health Care Sector in France

Nearly 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in France is spent on health care. Twenty per cent of this budget is spent on medicines, more than in many of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries including the US, UK and Canada. The pharmaceutical industry in France is the third largest in Europe and adopted product patents even before the TRIPS agreement. Strict regulatory measures govern the pharmaceutical industry in France. The branded drugs are costlier compared to the generics. In order to control costs and promote generic drugs in the prescription, the government has introduced several regulatory measures, which even other OECD countries have not fully implemented yet. Of the total turnover of the pharmaceutical industry, turnover from the domestic sales has been declining while the exports turnover has been increasing. The balance of trade in pharmaceuticals has been positive. The French have also been filing a large number of patents, second only to the US; and they rank higher than the US in patents granted. In order to compensate the firms for the loss of time in the patent application process, the French government grants a five-year term of exclusivity for companies satisfying certain criteria. Though this could delay the entry of generics, for pharmaceutical companies it provides an extended period of power over the product. The industry has also responded by investing in R&D to improve further. In conclusion, the government plays a significant role in providing health care and regulating the pharmaceutical industry.