[Vnbiz] U.S. trade deals raising drug prices abroad: Oxfam

[Phan, Tai]

U.S. trade deals raising drug prices abroad: Oxfam 

Tue Apr 3, 7:31 PM ET
 


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Strong intellectual property protections in U.S. free trade deals have hurt developing countries, pushing up drug prices in Jordan by 20 percent, an aid advocacy group said in a report released on Tuesday. 


 
Beefed-up property rights for drug makers, which have been built into U.S. free trade deals like the one with Jordan, "will make it harder and harder to sustain public health systems," said Rohit Malpani, a trade analyst with the advocacy group Oxfam in Washington.

U.S. trade officials disputed the report's findings, saying the trade agreements fairly balanced intellectual property protections and health care needs.

The Oxfam report found that drug prices in Jordan have increased by 20 percent since 2001, when the bilateral deal with the United States was implemented, and are up to six times higher than comparable drug prices in Egypt.

Oxfam said a big driver of higher drug prices is a rule that guards, for a time, against sharing of clinical trial information that can be used to make generic drugs.

"In developing countries ... public health systems are very fragile and only a small percentage of the population has health insurance," so higher drug prices can have serious health consequences, Malpani said.

But a U.S. trade official, who requested anonymity, said: "We strongly disagree with Oxfam's contention that intellectual property protection is at odds with an effective response to global health crises.

"We believe that our (trade agreements) represent an appropriate means of advancing high standards of IP protection, while safeguarding the ability of trading partners to respond to legitimate public health needs," the official added.

Oxfam wants to see trade deals with Peru, Colombia, Panama and        South Korea, which still need congressional approval, reworked to soften intellectual property rules.

Malpani believes support is gathering among some Democratic lawmakers for loosening those rules for developing countries.

Democrats on the        House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, which oversees trade, recently released their own vision for trade including a goal to "reestablish a fair balance" in setting IP rules for medicine with developing countries.

Last month, a group of lawmakers sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab saying that trade deals "appear to undermine" a pledge from all        World Trade Organization members to give poorer countries flexibility in protecting public health.

Some Democrats are also calling for stronger protection for workers and the environment to be woven into pending deals.