How One Rule Rewrote Global Trade in Pharmaceuticals

Episode 56 of Global Trade with Fexingo explores a single World Trade Organization rule that reshaped the global pharmaceutical market. Hosts Lucas and Luna dive into the 2005 amendment to the TRIPS Agreement, which allowed compulsory licensing for drug exports to countries with no manufacturing capacity. We trace the real-world impact: from Canada's one and only export license for an HIV drug to Rwanda in 2007, to how the rule changed pricing and patent strategies for companies like Gilead and Merck. The episode examines why the mechanism has been used only once, and how it influenced later trade deals and the COVID-19 vaccine waiver debate. Lucas and Luna break down the numbers, the legal mechanics, and the unintended consequences for access to medicines. A focused look at how one trade rule — meant to balance patent protection and public health — has rewritten global pharma trade, for better and for worse. #TRIPS #CompulsoryLicensing #WTO #Pharmaceuticals #GlobalTrade #PatentLaw #PublicHealth #HIV #Rwanda #Canada #Gilead #Merck #COVID19 #VaccineWaiver #Economics #TradePolicy #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo