CPTPP deal drops IP increases

Executive Summary

Several provisions that would have increased protection for intellectual property (IP) on pharmaceuticals have been omitted from a Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade deal agreed by 11 countries on 23 January, and set to be signed on 8 March in Chile. The agreement struck in Tokyo, Japan, between ministers from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam includes an annex of suspended provisions – several of which cover IP rights for pharmaceuticals – that were included in the draft Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) text before the US pulled out of the trade deal last year. These include requirements for data exclusivity of “at least five years” for small molecules and “at least eight years” for biological drugs, as well as patent-term extensions (Generics bulletin, 24 November 2017, page 1). All CPTPP members would have to agree to reinstate such measures for them to apply in future.