The allegations are not based on evidence, according to Philip Stevens, a senior fellow at Ideas.
Critics of FTAs often cite IP protection as one of the reasons for their opposition to such agreements. For example, Klang MP Charles Santiago has voiced concern that the IP provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement might affect Malaysia’s access to affordable drugs.
“In Malaysia,” said Stevens, “Test Data Exclusivity, a form of IP protection for biologic medicines, has caused the most controversy.”
Essentially, Test Data Exclusivity prevents generic drug companies from getting an approval from the authorities for a copy drug that it has developed using the test data of the company which invented the drug.
Stevens said he had carried out extensive research on the impact of increased IP protection and Test Data Exclusivity on a government’s healthcare expenditure but found no evidence of major increases in such expenditure.
“I also conducted research on the impact of FTAs on health outcomes,” he added. “We saw almost no impact on the countries which signed FTAs with enhanced IP provisions.
“So there is no public health Armageddon as some prophets of doom would have you believe.”
On the contrary, he said, developing countries which practised open trade enjoyed significant health outcomes, such as lower child mortality rates and increased life expectancy.
He said the increased economic growth resulting from open trade would would translate into better access to healthcare
Furthermore, he added, open trade would encourage technology transfers and thereby add to the store of knowledge in a country.
He said Malaysia should strive to increase IP protection because it would encourage drug companies to innovate. “When they innovate, they add value not only to themselves, but to the country they are based in. This is an important part of fostering the knowledge-based industries, which will help the country achieve a high-income status.”
Stevens said Malaysia, being a signatory to the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, already had the basics of IP protection in place, but he added that this was insufficient for the times.
He said the increasing complexity of innovation drugs required new standards of IP protection.
“If Malaysia wants to move up from being a country that copies to a country that innovates, it must take measures to upgrade its IP laws and infrastructure.”
He said the challenge for the government was to balance its goals of becoming a high income, innovative nation and catering to the needs of the people.