Intellectual Property Watch: Inside Views: Will U.S. Drug Pricing Politics Change Intimidation Practices Globally?
Fifa Rahman, board member for NGOs at Unitaid

“The global health world, particularly as concerns skyrocketing drug prices and patent abuse, is in a unique space in time. … The Trump administration has sent delegations to global health agencies in Geneva to intimidate them into reducing, or hiding, work on TRIPS flexibilities and fairer drug pricing. Meanwhile, at home in the United States, there is a clear shift in paradigm on these issues. A number of legislative instruments have been introduced in the Senate and the House to address exorbitant drug prices. … For decades, translating domestic U.S. intellectual property into global norms has been high on the political agenda. … U.S. intellectual property standards have proliferated through numerous bilateral trade agreements around the globe. … [C]ould we see a shift in paradigm on traditional U.S. hegemonic and bullying behavior on drug pricing with a Democratic president post-2020? Shall we see Ambassador Deborah Birx say that ending AIDS cannot be done without tackling excessive prices with intellectual property measures? Shall we see the Global Fund to End AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria able to free itself from USG shackles and invest in grants to tackle drug pricing? … While it is too early at this stage to make conclusive predictions on U.S. drug pricing diplomacy post-2020, there are hopeful indications of a diplomatic shift, contingent upon who wins the 2020 elections…” (3/5).