A Perspective on Patent Impact On Brazil

The process of introducing new legislation that provides patent protection for pharmaceutical products in developing countries is rarely smooth, and Brazil is no exception. In 1994, Brazil signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade accord which includes the agreement for Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights. This means that the question around patent legislation in Brazil is not whether it will be introduced but when and in what form, argues industry consultant Heinz Redwood, in a perspective on the future impact of pharmaceutical patents in Brazil, at a time when the country's patent bill languishes in the Senate after postponements of the vote by Senate committees (Marketletters passim).

Mr Redwood argues that although developing countries may contend that not having patent legislation will encourage original pharmaceutical R&D, as did India, this is not the reality. He illustrates this by saying that during the past 14 years, national companies in Brazil have gained only two percentage points of market share in the pharmacy sector, in which the multinational companies hold a 70% stake. In the total drug market, national companies hold a 36% stake, while the multinationals hold the remainder.

He also points out that, according to United Nations sources, Brazil had a continuous trade deficit in medicinal and pharmaceutical products between 1988 and 1992 (see table below):