Intellectual Property (IP)

Three reports show how Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda can broaden their investment incentives to capture the special needs of antibiotics production.

Written by James Zhan, Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise, and Christoph Spennemann, Chief, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD

UNCTAD and the WHO have teamed up to respond to the urgent call to boost local production of essential medicines in developing countries.

In the context of the e-commerce week, UNCTAD on 4 April 2019 organized a panel discussion on Intellectual Property and Development in the Digital Economy.

An event on fostering investment in the development of new antibacterial treatments was held on 23 October 2018 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva during the World Investment Forum (WIF).

UNCTAD applauds the decision of South Africa's Cabinet to approve the first phase of a new intellectual property policy that paves the way to better access to medicine in the country.

With medical experts warning of a "post-antibiotic apocalypse", UNCTAD legal officer Christoph Spennemann explains why joint public-private investment is the missing weapon in the war against the spread of antibiotic resistance.

The $5 billion East African pharmaceutical market is expected to grow by more than 12% per year for the next five years, as lifestyle changes in the region lead to higher rates of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes.

Improving access to medicines can be enhanced by local production of pharmaceuticals in developing countries. But to do so, both the public and the private sector need to work together, said James Zhan, Director of UNCTAD's Division on Investment and Enterprise at the World Investment Forum's Policy Debate on Public Health.

Students at Lund University of Sweden learn from an UNCTAD partnership how policy frameworks can help build domestic technological capacities and the role of intellectual property rights in this regard.​