Creating R & D incentives for medicines for neglected diseases : an economic analysis of parallel imports, patents, and alternative mechanisms to stimulate pharmaceutical research / Frank Müller-Langer ; with a foreword by Hans-Bernd Schäfer
The TRIPS Agreement and Access to Patented Medicines -- Economic Analysis of Patents -- Patent Protection in the Developing World: Theory and Evidence -- Legal and Economic Analysis of Parallel Imports -- Solutions for the Problem of Underinvestment in R & D for Medicines for Neglected Infectious and Tropical Diseases -- Conclusion and Ideas for Further Research
Summary
Virtually no research is targeted at developing medicines for tropical diseases as the expected market returns from R & D into these diseases in the private pharmaceuticals sector are too low. Frank Müller-Langer addresses the market failure with respect to R & D for medicines for tropical diseases and the lack of short-term access to affordable medicines in poor countries. The author analyzes additional push and pull mechanisms to stimulate R & D for pharmaceutical products alongside patent protection which may help mitigate the problem of those consumers in poor countries who lack access to affordable medicines. Furthermore, he reasons that a global regime of banning parallel trade from low-income countries to high-income countries is desirable from a developing country's perspective
