Reports
Discussion Papers
No.024 Who Develops Innovations in Medicine for the Poor? Trends in Patent Applications Related to Medicines for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Diseases
by ITO Banri and YAMAGATA Tatsufumi
April 2005
ABSTRACT
Who
invents
medicines
for
the
poor
of
the
world?
This
question
becomes
very
important
where
the
WTO
allows
low
income
countries
to
be
unbound
by
the
TRIPS
agreement.
This
agreement
concerns
medicines
for
infectious
diseases
such
as
HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis
and
malaria.
These
diseases
cause
serious
damage
to
low
income
countries.
Under
these
circumstances,
some
scholars
wonder
if
anyone
will
continue
innovative
activities
related
to
treating
these
diseases.
This
paper
sought
to
answer
this
question
by
collecting
and
analyzing
patent
data
of
medicines
and
vaccines
for
diseases
using
the
database
of
the
Japan
Patent
Office.
Results
indicate
that
private
firms
have
led
in
innovation
not
only
for
global
diseases
such
as
HIV/AIDS
but
also
diseases
such
as
malaria
that
are
spreading
exclusively
in
low
income
countries.
Innovation
for
the
three
infectious
diseases
is
diverse
among
firms,
and
frequent
patent
applications
by
high-performing
pharmaceutical
firms
appear
prominent
even
after
R&D
expenditure,
economies
of
scale,
and
economies
of
scope
are
taken
into
account.
Keywords:
HIV/AIDS;
malaria;
tuberculosis;
neglected
diseases;
patent;
medicine;
knowledge
production
JEL
classification:
I19,
L65,
O31,
O34
Please note that discussion papers are works in various stages of progress and most have not been edited and proofread and may contain errors of fact or judgment. Revised versions of these papers may subsequently appear in more formal publication series. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s). The IDE does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included and accepts no responsibility for any consequences arising from its use.