Limited use of compulsory licensing of pharmaceuticals to protect public health
Reed Beall and Randall Kuhn of the University of Denver, USA describe in this week's PLoS Medicine their findings from an analysis of use of compulsory licenses for pharmaceutical products by World Trade Organization members since 1995. Specifically, the authors investigated the impact of the 2001 Doha Declaration on trends in compulsory licensing of pharmaceuticals. They highlight the need for further systematic evaluation of global health agreements.
Funding: No direct funding was received for this study. The authors were personally salaried by their institutions during the period of writing, though no specific salary was set aside or given for the writing of this paper. No funding bodies had any role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Beall R, Kuhn R (2012) Trends in Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceuticals Since the Doha Declaration: A Database Analysis. PLoS Med 9(1): e1001154. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001154
CONTACT:
Randall Kuhn
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
University of Denver
Denver, Colorado
United States of America
303-871-2061
PLOS Medicine