Building Up a Balanced Global Intellectual Property System: Report of the WIPO Assemblies’ Sixty-sixth Series of Meetings
Health, Intellectual Property and Biodiversity Programme, South Centre
This report reviews the key discussions and outcomes of the 66th Series of Meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Assemblies held in July 2025. The Assemblies addressed important governance, oversight, and norm-setting issues. Key developments included the launch of the process to appoint a new Director General, decisions on committee compositions and approval of the 2026/27 Program and Budget. Developing countries advocated for more inclusive participation in governance, balanced priority setting on norm-setting work, and stronger implementation of the Development Agenda.
Co-organized by the National Commission on International Trade & Health Studies (NCITHS), Thailand together with the International Trade & Health Programme (ITH), South Centre & other partners
South Centre in collaboration with IT for Change and Center of Policy Research and Governance, with the support of the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in Geneva
Monday, 17 November 2025, 13:15 – 14:15, Palais des Nations, Room VIII, Geneva
Held in preparation for the AI Impact Summit 2026, this event will discuss how countries can work together to ensure Artificial Intelligence supports inclusive and sustainable development, strengthens national and regional capacities, and promotes equitable participation in global AI governance.
The BBNJ Will Enter into Force in January 2026: Summary of PrepCom II Outcome
By Ningxiner Li
The BBNJ Agreement enters into force on January 2026. Read the PrepCom II outcomes on developing country priorities: equitable governance, a demand-driven Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM), and accessible funding. There is critical work ahead before PrepCom III (March 23-April 2, 2026) and COP1.
WIPO’s new Treaty on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge – a long-awaited and groundbreaking step towards combatting biopiracy
By Wend Wendland
WIPO’s new Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge responds to an over 25 years’ demand by developing countries to combat biopiracy. The Treaty is the first intellectual property treaty for which those countries were the proponents. While the Treaty’s adoption on May 24, 2024 was a momentous milestone in the evolution of the patent system, it is critical that the Treaty’s paradigm-shifting political and symbolic importance be matched by its practical effectiveness.
Statement by South Centre at the Ministerial Meeting on Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance and Innovation for Sustainable Development (G20 Task Force)
30 September 2025, Cape Town
The South Centre welcomes the G20’s effort to advance meaningful participation of developing countries in shaping a fair, safe, secure, responsible, inclusive, ethical, trustworthy, and sustainable global AI landscape. Data governance is a foundation for equitable AI. Countries are entitled to develop and adopt regulatory frameworks for AI systems, including to reflect diverse knowledge systems and fair remuneration for data contributions.
On September 24, 2025, two agreements were announced with generic drug manufacturers in India for the supply of generic lenacapavir at $40 (instead of the original $28,218) per patient per year. However, these generics can only be supplied to the countries included in Gilead’s voluntary license, excluding too many from accessing this price.
The negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System under the WHO Pandemic Agreement: State of Play as of September 2025
By Viviana Munoz Tellez, German Velasquez
The World Health Organization (WHO) Member States adopted a Pandemic Agreement in May 2025 but deferred negotiations on the critical Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System (PABS). Despite the tight timeline, the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) has made minimal progress as of September 2025, with no draft text produced and formal negotiations yet to begin. The PABS system is essential for pandemic equity, balancing rapid pathogen sharing with equitable access to vaccines and treatments. But with the current approach to the IGWG process, without formal negotiations underway, Member States risk failing to finalize the PABS Annex by the March 2026 deadline.
WTO TRIPS Agreement: Insights from a Negotiator at the Uruguay Round of GATT
By Jayashree Watal
This article recounts how the TRIPS Agreement negotiations took place from the perspective of a participant in the negotiations. It outlines India’s concerns with the developed countries’ proposals and notes that most developing countries wrongly thought that TRIPS was about trade in counterfeit goods, a subject that was first broached at the end of the Tokyo Round in 1978-9. On the contrary, Industry associations of the US, EU and Japan had, quite early on in the negotiations in 1988, drawn up a legal text very close to what became the final text of the TRIPS Agreement.
Taking Forward Digital Public Infrastructure for the Global South
By Danish
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has received significant attention for its role in promoting inclusive and effective digital transformation, particularly in the countries of the global South. Elevated onto the global agenda under India’s Group of Twenty (G20) Presidency in 2023, DPIs are now considered as key digital solutions for providing essential services like digital identity, financial inclusion, and access to e-governance platforms. Yet, realizing the full potential of DPI in developing countries requires building a policy and regulatory framework that fosters trust, protects rights and addresses persistent digital divides. Robust institutions and governance mechanisms are equally essential to ensure that DPI adoption is inclusive, equitable and aligned to national priorities.
This paper provides a snapshot of the recent policy and regulatory developments on DPI, as well as the relevant stakeholders at the national and international levels. It then considers the challenges of the digital divide for developing countries and briefly presents some national experiences on the use of DPIs for increasing financial inclusion and promoting e-governance. The paper concludes by offering some recommendations to fully harness the benefits of DPI for accelerating sustainable development and digital transformation in the countries of the global South.
International Day of Science, Technology and Innovation for the South
September 16, 2025
Dr. Carlos Correa, South Centre Executive Director, highlighted the transformative role of S&T. He also noted that despite the enormous historical North-South asymmetry in the capacity to generate S&T, developing countries’ share of global R&D has increased steadily in the last two decades, while many countries still invest less than 1% of their GDP in R&D.
