Suchergebnisse

OBJECTIVE: The World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement establishes minimum standards for intellectual property rights, including patent protection for pharmaceuticals; therefore, it may make it difficult for developing countries to gain access to medicines, especially those countries that are the least developed. This study aims to determine whether implementation of the TRIPS Agreement in Latin American and Caribbean countries has generated patent legislation that is sensitive to public health needs. METHODS: Legislation in 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries was analysed. The variables considered in the analysis were: the term of patents issued, patentable subject matter, transition periods (that is, time until legislation was enacted), reversal of the burden of proof of patent infringement, exhaustion of rights, compulsory licensing and the early working exception (which allows a country to complete all procedures necessary to register a generic product before the original patent expires). FINDINGS: By 2000, all of the countries studied had reformed their legislation to conform to the agreement. Brazil and Argentina used the transition period until 2005 to grant patents in the pharmaceutical industry. All countries, except Panama, made use of the safeguards and flexibilities available through the agreement by including mechanisms for compulsory licensing in their legislation. Argentina; Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela (countries that represented the Andean community); the Dominican Republic; and Panama included mechanisms to allow parallel importation. Mexico did not. Brazil only permits parallel importation after a compulsory licence has been issued. The early working exception is included in legislation in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. CONCLUSION: The countries in this study did not incorporate all of the mechanisms allowed for by the Agreement and are not adequately using the provisions that enable World Trade Organization ...

The production of medicines with quality, safety and efficacy is essential to meet national and international requirements, aiming at subsidizing pharmaceutical care within the public health. Given the strategic role in which the public health industrial complex is inserted, compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) of the World Health Organization (WHO) is essential to export its drugs via international organizations. The objectives of this article were to identify the main technical requirements recommended by WHO and enforced by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa), for compliance and recognition of GMP for medicinal products, and to compare them critically, to obtain the prequalification of medicines. This literature and documentary review promoted a comprehensive approach on national regulations and WHO guidelines. This work enabled to show a high degree of harmonization concerning the topics/subtopics compared between WHO and the national standards guides imposed by Anvisa about GMP, which demonstrates an integration of the national legislation in the international context, corroborating the alignment between Anvisa and WHO regarding compliance with GMP. ; A produção de medicamentos com qualidade, segurança e eficácia é fundamental para atender às demandas nacionais e internacionais, com o fito de subsidiar a assistência farmacêutica no âmbito da saúde pública. Diante do papel estratégico em que o complexo fabril público de saúde está inserido, o cumprimento das Boas Práticas de Fabricação (BPF) da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) é essencial para a exportação de seus medicamentos via organismos internacionais. Os objetivos deste artigo foram identificar os principais requisitos técnicos recomendados pela OMS e exigidos pela Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (Anvisa), para o cumprimento e reconhecimento das BPF de medicamentos, e compará-los, de maneira crítica, em prol da obtenção da pré-qualificação de medicamentos. A metodologia empregada promoveu uma abordagem abrangente acerca das regulamentações nacionais e dos guias da OMS, por intermédio da seguinte técnica de coleta de dados: pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. O presente trabalho possibilitou evidenciar um alto grau de harmonização acerca dos tópicos/subtópicos comparados entre os guias da OMS e a normatização nacional imposta pela Anvisa em BPF, o que demonstra uma inserção da legislação nacional no contexto internacional, corroborando o alinhamento entre a Anvisa e OMS, no tocante ao cumprimento das BPF.