Effective intellectual property rights are an essential precondition to sustained investment in research and development.
Developing new drugs is an intrinsically high risk business. It is patent protection which allows companies, such as ourselves, to be able to research and develop new medicines which improve the quality of life of patients throughout the world.
Without patent protection, it would be impossible to undertake the huge financial investment that is required to produce a medicine. The discovery stage through to the approval of a new medicine takes on average around 15 years and costs around £350 million. During this period, many compounds fail to become medicines. Pfizer will invest $7 billion in researching and developing new medicines in 2005.
Pfizer Limited believes that the implementation of the TRIPS agreement is the most effective way to help developing countries obtain the medicines that they require. This is because patent rights have made it possible for pharmaceutical companies to develop life-saving medicines which have made the world a healthier place. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are the pre-requisite for the development of new medicines needed by the population of the whole world. If IPRs are only in place in the developed world, one of the basic incentives to develop drugs of specific relevance for developing countries will not be in place. This will have a major impact on a pharmaceutical company’s ability to conduct research and development on diseases which affect developing countries.
Access to medicines in developing countries is a complex issue and it would be simplistic and wrong to blame the TRIPs agreement. TRIPs is not yet fully implemented in all countries, in particular, the poorest developing countries. TRIPs therefore cannot be held responsible for inadequate access to health care in such countries. The access to medicines issue encompasses the overall health care system, the distribution system for pharmaceuticals, the appropriate training for medical personnel, information for patients, as well as financial issues. Of crucial importance, is the commitment of governments of developing countries to set health as their top priority, so that local resources are mobilised effectively and efficiently.