The Political Economy of Pharmaceutical Patents: US Sectional Interests and the African Group at the WTO

227 Pages·2016·3.08 MB·English

by  Marcellin, Sherry S

The PoliTical economy of
PharmaceuTical PaTenTs
Global health
Series Editors: Professor nana K. Poku, John ferguson Professor,
university of Bradford, uK and Dr robert l. ostergard, assistant
Professor of Political science, university of nevada, reno
The benefits of globalization are potentially enormous, as a result of the increased
sharing of ideas, cultures, life-saving technologies and efficient production
processes. Yet globalization is under trial, partly because these benefits are not yet
reaching hundreds of millions of the world’s poor and partly because globalization
has introduced new kinds of international problems and conflicts. Turmoil in one
part of the world now spreads rapidly to others, through terrorism, armed conflict,
environmental degradation or disease.
This timely series provides a robust and multi-disciplinary assessment of the
asymmetrical nature of globalization. Books in the series encompass a variety
of areas, including global health and the politics of governance, poverty and
insecurity, gender and health and the implications of global pandemics.
Also in the series
The Politics of AIDS Denialism
South Africa’s Failure to Respond
Pieter Fourie and Melissa Meyer
isBn 978 1 4094 0405 7
Gender and HIV/AIDS
Critical Perspectives from the Developing World
Edited by Jelke Boesten and Nana K. Poku
isBn 978 0 7546 7269 2
AIDS, South Africa, and the Politics of Knowledge
Jeremy R. Youde
isBn 978 0 7546 7003 2
AIDS and Governance
Edited by Nana K. Poku, Alan Whiteside and Bjorg Sandkjaer
isBn 978 0 7546 4579 5
The Political Economy of AIDS in Africa
Nana K. Poku and Alan Whiteside
isBn 978 0 7546 3897 1
The Political Economy of
Pharmaceutical Patents
us sectional interests and the
African Group at the WTO
sherry s. marcellin
London School of Economics, UK
© sherry s. marcellin 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Sherry S. Marcellin has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
marcellin, sherry s.
The political economy of pharmaceutical patents : US
sectional interests and the African Group at the WTO.
1. Pharmaceutical industry. 2. Patent laws and legislation.
3. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (1994) 4. World Trade Organization.
i. Title
382.4’56151-dc22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
marcellin, sherry s.
The political economy of pharmaceutical patents : US sectional interests and the African
Group at the WTO / by Sherry S Marcellin.
p. cm. -- (Global health)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-1214-4 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4094-1215-1 (ebook)
1. Pharmaceutical industry. 2. Patent laws and legislation. 3. World Trade Organization.
i. Title.
hD9665.5.m362 2010
382’.456151--dc22
2010022042
ISBN 9781409412144 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409412151 (ebk)
contents
List of Tables and Figures vii
Acknowledgements ix
List of Abbreviations xi
introduction 1
1 Explaining ‘Who Gets What’ in International Trade
Decision-making 23
2 North/South Controversies in the TRIPS Negotiations:
Between Hegemony and Domination? 53
3 Consensus Formation in the TRIPS Negotiations:
agendas, agents and Turning Points 81
4 Legitimacy and the TRIPS Agreement: Globalised Law as
‘Consent Without Consent’ 107
5 The Post-TRIPS Context and the Intensification of
a Contested Terrain: The Rise of the African Group (AG)
at the WTO? 133
conclusion 165
List of Interviewees 173
References 175
Index 207
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list of Tables and figures
Tables
1.1 2004 Global Market Share (GMS) of the top 10 pharmaceutical
companies 26
1.2 World’s major pharmaceutical markets as fraction of total sales in
us$ billion 29
Figures
1.1 Five-year presentation on the global annual sales (US$ billion) of the
TDI compared with the current annual GDP of sub-Saharan Africa
(US$ billion) 28
1.2 enabling structure of the TDi 37
1.3 Prevailing historical structure 52
This page has been left blank intentionally
Acknowledgements
My sincerest gratitude goes out to my family, as well as to Matthew Watson and
Diane Stone of The University of Warwick, UK.