International Trade & IP Committee
The IGBA International Trade & IP Committee aims to develop a more competitive business environment for the generic and biosimilar medicines industries around the globe. It also promotes the implementation of balanced, well-functioning and transparent intellectual property systems in all jurisdictions.
Its purpose is to foster the spread of generic and biosimilar medicines worldwide increasing their market penetration through the dismantling of barriers to trade, regulatory harmonization, reduction of costs linked to administrative burdens and red tape, and a fair balance between IPR protection and public health needs. The ultimate objective aims to bring competition to markets at the earliest appropriate opportunity which provides patients with timely access to cost-saving generic and biosimilar medicines. This objective also supports the sustainability and future growth of investments made by the industry in new product development, manufacturing and the litigation that is generally required to bring new generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilar medicines to domestic markets.
To accomplish this, the generic and biosimilar medicines industries require particular attention and a high level of collaboration and coordination among the different regional Associations and their Member companies. The IGBA International Trade & IP Committee, by virtue of its global perspective, will develop coordinated strategies for the achievements of such goals.
Documents
- IGBA Statement at the Opening of the Sessions at the WIPO Assemblies (July 2024)
- International Trade and Resilient Supply Chains of Medicines in a Post-Covid Era. Archana Jatkar and José Luis Cárdenas (May 2023)
- How to increase access to medicines at the Crossroads of Public Health, Intellectual Property and Trade. Sergio Napolitano (April 2023)
- IQVIA study: Impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on generic and biosimilar medicines markets (October 2020)
- The Unspoken Cost of Pharma IP Protections from Trade Agreements (Infographic)
- WTO workshop on trade and public health - Engaging in the Production of Generic Medicines Under the Paragraph 6 System (November 2019)
- WTO workshop on trade and public health - How to Enhance Synergies between Public Health Objectives and Trade Agreements: Industry and Civil Society Perspective (November 2019)
- IGBA Statement on Hosting of Pat-INFORMED by WIPO (December 2019)
- Op-ed: Trade agreement drug monopoly is obsolete given faster, better drug discovery (October 2019)
- IGBA submission to the Government of Australia: Considerations for the Proposed Australia–European Union Free Trade Agreement as it Pertains to Medicines (July 2019)
- Report: IGBA Trade Principles (June 2019)
- IGBA open letter to the Director General of WIPO regarding Pat-INFORMED
- Trilateral Letter on NAFTA from the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Industries
- IGBA Reactive Statement on “Analysis of the costs of production of medicines in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines" (May 2017)
- IGBA Files Recommendations for USTR 2016 Special 301 Review – February 5, 2016
- Statement by the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association on the Signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement – February 4, 2016
- IGPA Recommendations for Office of the United States Trade Representative 2015 Special 301 Review
- IGPA Statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Negotiations
- Joint EGA & GPHA response to the EU-US high level working group on jobs and growth on regulatory issues
- IGPA Strategic Interest Statement for the TTIP negotiations
