Three Decades of Global Engagement: The South Centre’s Contribution to Intellectual Property and Development
By Nirmalya Syam
South Centre 30th Anniversary Series No. 2, 30 April 2026
This paper is part of a series of publications made in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the South Centre, an intergovernmental organization established in 1995 to advance the interests of developing countries in global governance. Tracing its origins to the 1990 South Commission, it examines the Centre’s pivotal role in shaping intellectual property (IP) policies to promote equitable development. Through rigorous research, advocacy, and technical assistance, the South Centre has supported negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and World Trade Organization (WTO), influencing milestones like the 2007 WIPO Development Agenda and extensions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) transition periods for least developed countries.
Key contributions include promoting TRIPS flexibilities for public health, biodiversity, and technology transfer, with seminal publications on compulsory licensing, patent examination, and traditional knowledge protection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre advocated for IP waivers to enhance access to vaccines and therapeutics. Impacts include empowering Global South nations to implement development-oriented IP strategies and reform patent laws. Looking ahead, the paper addresses challenges from digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and data governance, calling for strengthened South-South cooperation and proactive advocacy to ensure inclusive IP frameworks. The South Centre remains essential for fostering sustainable development and reducing global inequalities.
UK–India CETA: Patents and International Intellectual Property Governance
By Pratyush Nath Upreti & Virender Chandel
This policy brief locates the United Kingdom-India Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement’s (CETA) intellectual property rights (IPRs) rules in the midst of trade-offs. It succinctly provides an overview of the IPR Chapter, analyses the specific provisions on patents and contextualises IP in the broader context of international IP governance. The analysis of the IPR Chapter shows the parties’ objective to establish meaningful commitments on intellectual property protection and enforcement while preserving regulatory flexibility on development-centric and public health priorities. All in all, the IPR Chapter reflects a compromise between a country with an established, strong IP regime and a country seeking greater policy space and advancing IP norms in areas such as traditional knowledge. As India continues integrating into the global trade architecture through bilateral agreements, the CETA IPR Chapter will serve as a critical test case for whether strategic policy space can be meaningfully preserved within contemporary trade frameworks.
Towards an Operative Pathogen ABS System: Implementing the Equal Footing Requirement of Article 12 of the WHO Pandemic Agreement
By Viviana Munoz Tellez, Nirmalya Syam
Multilateral negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system remain deadlocked. As required by Article 12 of the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, the annex operationalizing the PABS system must place on equal footing the rapid and timely sharing of PABS Materials and Sequence Information with the rapid, timely, fair and equitable sharing of benefits that arise from their sharing and utilization. The Annex cannot impose binding sharing obligations on State Parties while making it optional for users of PABS Materials to opt in to the PABS system voluntarily, without legally binding obligations on benefit sharing arising from the utilization of PABS Materials and Sequence Information. The Annex also cannot create a hybrid system providing alternative routes for access, either “open” or “restricted”. This would be inconsistent with Article 12 of the Pandemic Agreement and with the obligations of parties under the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. The Annex must include a standardized contractual framework binding all actors in the PABS chain, a minimum manufacturer participation threshold before country obligations become active, and ensure benefit-sharing is not confined to pandemic emergencies.
Access to Medicines and Intellectual Property: taking advantage of TRIPS flexibilities for post-COVID-19 resilience in Africa
By Ismaelline Eba Nguema
The call by India and South Africa for the provisional lifting of patents on pharmaceutical products has had the merit of putting the issue of access to medicines and public health back on the agenda. However, the difficulty of reconciling access to medicines and intellectual property has many factors which cannot be reduced solely to the commitments of WTO member states. A more in-depth analysis reveals the intrinsic limitations of some of its members. These include the weakness of the legislative and regulatory framework in some countries, such as those on the African continent. Consequently, the aim of this article is to demonstrate that effective use of the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement is only possible if African countries equip themselves with an appropriate legal framework, in addition to the judicial institutions that are supposed to guarantee the effectiveness of the standards adopted. The methodology used consisted of an exegesis of various documents, including articles, working documents of the TRIPS Council, declarations and resolutions of various bodies, as well as the national case law of certain WTO members, etc. This method led us to conclude that the compatibility between access to medicines and intellectual property is caught between human rights and economic interests. However, for the TRIPS flexibilities to be fully utilized by African countries, they would benefit from reforming their legal frameworks to take advantage of the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement.
Addressing Barriers to Accessing Monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) in Developing Countries: Challenges and Potential Solutions
By Nirmalya Syam
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have revolutionized treatment in oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases due to their high specificity and efficacy. However, access to mAbs in developing countries remains severely limited due to high costs, market concentration in high-income regions, regulatory hurdles, and intellectual property barriers. Despite the potential of biosimilars to enhance affordability, their availability remains restricted due to expensive development processes, patent thickets, and complex regulatory requirements. The dominance of multinational pharmaceutical companies in the market further restricts competition, delaying biosimilar approvals and preventing price reductions. Additionally, regulatory agencies in developing countries often lack the resources to expedite biosimilar approvals, further exacerbating delays in access.
Policy interventions such as improved regulatory harmonization, stricter patent examination guidelines, and expanded public investment in mAb production are necessary to address these barriers. The adoption of the revised 2022 WHO Similar Biotherapeutic Products (SBP) Guidelines could streamline biosimilar approval by reducing unnecessary comparative clinical trials. Moreover, technology transfer initiatives and market-shaping incentives, including compulsory licensing, could help lower costs and accelerate the availability of mAbs in underserved regions.
By implementing these strategies, developing countries can bridge the access gap, ensuring that lifesaving mAb therapies reach the patients who need them most. A coordinated global effort involving policymakers, regulators, and industry stakeholders is essential to establishing a sustainable and equitable mAb supply chain.
Global Activism to Make Patented Drugs More Accessible: An ITPC Case Study of Bedaquiline for Treatment of Tuberculosis
By Priti Patnaik
This report documents efforts by civil society organizations (CSOs) in various countries, including Brazil, Ukraine and Thailand, to make Bedaquiline more accessible by using the flexibilities provided in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) – the safeguards in the intellectual property system that take into account public health needs. The case study was undertaken during 2023-2024.
Tuberculosis remains a major global health crisis, with drug-resistant forms requiring newer more effective treatments like Bedaquiline which offers shorter treatment times and fewer side effects than older regimens. The report offers an overview of global and country-specific efforts by CSOs to challenge patents held by Johnson & Johnson on the tuberculosis (TB) drug bedaquiline (BDQ) to improve patient access and affordability. CSOs primarily focused on opposing “evergreening” secondary patents that extend Johnson & Johnson’s monopoly beyond the original patent expiration, arguing that these patents lack inventive merit and artificially inflate prices. Successful actions, such as patent rejections in India and Thailand and Johnson & Johnson’s agreement not to enforce patents in 134 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are discussed alongside challenges, including judicial difficulties, insufficient political will, and the strategic importance of pursuing pre-grant patent oppositions.
South Centre and One Health Trust Information Note
March 2026
92 million deaths could be averted by 2050 with improved access to antibiotics and infection care. The time to act is now, and it requires both access and stewardship.
Together with One Health Trust, we highlight key recommendations to make it happen in a pointed brief.
* Available in 3 languages (English, Portuguese and Spanish)
The South Centre carries out multiple activities to support developing countries with policy-oriented research, inputs and advice for negotiations and capacity building. The Report summarizes the South Centre’s activities in 2025 and highlights the contexts in which they were conducted as well as the objectives that were pursued with their implementation.
Towards a Development-Oriented TRIPS Review Under Article 71.1
By Nirmalya Syam
This paper calls for a comprehensive, development-focused review of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) under Article 71.1, a process that has been mandated but never carried out. It critiques the narrow, compliance-driven approach favored by developed countries, which risks sidelining the broader developmental objectives enshrined in Articles 7 and 8 and reaffirmed by the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. Through a detailed analysis of the political context, procedural history, and legal mandates, the paper argues that the TRIPS review should center on the real-world impact of the Agreement on developing countries—particularly in areas such as public health, access to medicines, technology transfer, and innovation capacity. It proposes an impact assessment framework grounded in empirical indicators to evaluate how TRIPS has influenced public welfare, policy space, and economic development. Ultimately, the paper urges the World Trade organization (WTO) to fulfill its long-overdue obligation to reassess TRIPS not as a compliance checklist but as a living instrument that must align with global equity and development goals.
UN Human Rights Council Resolutions on Access to Medicines and the Use of TRIPS Flexibilities: A Review
By Nirmalya Syam
This paper reviews almost twenty years of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) work on access to medicines. The UNHRC has repeatedly framed access to medicines as part of the right to health and has urged States to rely on flexibilities in the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to make essential treatments more affordable. Although the UNHRC has strengthened the human rights foundation for using such flexibilities, its resolutions have produced little change on the ground. The commitments embodied in the UNHRC resolutions stay broad and non-binding, leaving the deep structural barriers in place, including restrictive intellectual property (IP) clauses in trade deals, pressure from powerful States, limited technical and manufacturing capacity, and weak policy coordination within governments. Moreover, several recent resolutions reaffirm the value of IP protection, which creates tension that dilutes the Council’s support for the wider use of TRIPS flexibilities. The paper finds that the main gap between global human rights commitments and national action on advancing access to medicines reflects political choices and structural barriers, and concludes by calling for stronger mandates for States to review access barriers during the Universal Periodic Review, increased technical assistance from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, more civil society participation, national right-to-health action plans, and systematic monitoring of TRIPS implementation.
Independent Panel on Evidence for Action against Antimicrobial Resistance (IPEA): Reflections on the Foundational Documents
By Dr. Viviana Munoz Tellez
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) invited the Quadripartite Organizations to establish an Independent Panel on Evidence for Action against Antimicrobial Resistance (IPEA) in 2025. The launch of the IPEA is planned for 10 December 2025 during the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA). The Quadripartite organizations (the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)) released in November 2025 updated draft documents for the IPEA for additional consultation with Member States and stakeholders. The IPEA will constitute a welcome addition to global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) governance, and should be established, starting small and building gradually. Several concerns on the proposed model remain concerning the governance structure, equity in participation, and the independence of the panel. This policy brief provides analysis and recommendations on key issues concerning the draft foundational documents for the IPEA requiring attention.
Report on Compulsory Licensing Provisions in the National Patent Legislation of 15 Middle-Income Countries:
A Content Analysis and Recommendations
A Report of the Global Economic Governance Initiative of the Boston University Global Development Policy Center
Published by the South Centre and the Global Economic Governance Initiative of Boston University Global Development Policy Center
This study examines compulsory licensing laws in 15 middle-income countries often excluded from voluntary licenses & finds significant untapped policy space to advance access to affordable medicines. It highlights best practices & makes key recommendations to improve patent laws for the use of this important TRIPS flexibility.
