EGYPT / PATENTS / TRIPS

The Egyptian Pharmaceutical Industry after TRIPS

Nermien Al-Ali

Fordham International Law Journal, Vol 26 Issue 2, January 2003

Although the subject of this article may seem rather specialized, the author has gone to some lengths to give it a topicality and a global interest far beyond its immediate scope. It is one thing to talk in general terms about the implementation of TRIPS in countries such as Egypt, which fall a long way short of industrialized countries but have industrial ambitions; but it is quite another to see exactly what problems are involved in practice. The author describes the TRIPS Agreement from the point of view of developing countries and with particular reference to the pharmaceutical sector. Unlike some writers on the subject of pharmaceutical companies' activities in developing countries, she takes a fair and balanced position and, for example, explains with care the reasons for the developing countries' objections, in that context, to the provisions of TRIPS governing exceptions to rights and compulsory licensing. She describes the problems of the Egyptian authorities in adapting the national law to the requirements of TRIPS: not least, the problems arising from the "period of grace" before the requirements come fully into effect (in 2005). She makes the point that the new law has more teeth than the old, especially in respect of penalties for patent infringement, but adds that, even so, the deterrents may not be enough to influence companies with substantial resources, as in the pharmaceutical sector. She concludes with an interesting discussion of the way in which the Egyptian pharmaceutical industry is affected by the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. The biggest problem, which affects other states in the Middle East and Africa, concerns prices. It may be stated in the following way. TRIPS improves patent protection; improved patent protection increases prices; and "price increases beyond the purchasing ability of the poor masses constitute one of the major concerns stemming from the extension of patent protection to pharmaceuticals in all developing countries". The author looks at the possibilities of having recourse to price controls, differential pricing and parallel imports, each of which have both economic and political disadvantages, and at recommendation of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights on providing developing countries with financial aids, through the creation of a global fund, to deal with the problem of access. She observes that what is "interesting and promising is Egypt's opting not to control prices and, instead, creating a fund for their stabilization". [20089]