The role of TRIPS in health innovation and access to medicines in Brazil

Abstract: The thesis undertakes an analysis of the current tension between patents law obligations under TRIPS Agreement and human rights, specifically in the context of how the TRIPS Agreement influences health innovation and access to medicines in Brazil. Following a general overview of the interaction between human rights and patent law within the WTO, the central aim is based on the empirical analysis of two Brazilian case studies: “Pharmaceutical Patents on Access to Medicines” and “ONSA Network’s Genoma Program”. The purpose of the first case study is to describe how Brazilian access to medicine was impacted by the incorporation of TRIPS Agreement provisions into Brazil’s legislation, including how the country is making use of some TRIPS flexibilities relevant to the subject matter, as well as assess the consequences of this impact. The second case study is an example of a reaction to the legal framework that followed the TRIPS Agreement and consists of a system of voluntary licensing, based on a collaborative and open approach to innovation, with the outcome of making the research data available free from patent's limitation. Considering that Brazil's intellectual property regime is strongly shaped by global regulation, particularly the terms of the TRIPS Agreement - as the case studies illustrate - the final purpose is to assess how to better accommodate human rights within the WTO, in order to provide Brazil (and other WTO members) with a more secure basis to pursue the balance between patents and human rights.