Today, TACD releases a new policy resolution on medicinal products and medical devices (considered as health technologies by WHO) in the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The resolution offers a set of recommendations to the EU and US negotiators, stressing that TTIP should under no circumstances reinforce the monopoly power of pharmaceutical corporations, limit the freedom of governments to tailor decisions on pricing and reimbursement to ensure affordability, or revise intellectual property protection terms to ensure affordable access to life saving drugs.

TACD recommends the US and the EU to:

– Exclude investment protection measures in the context of health technologies from TTIP

– If regulatory cooperation annexes on medicines and medical are included in TTIP, ensure that the primary aim of regulatory cooperation is to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities

– Explicitly exclude pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement from TTIP

– Ensure that, if included in TTIP, Intellectual Property (IP) provisions and related exclusivities do not regulate standards for grating patents or strengthen market exclusivity on pharmaceuticals

– Restate EU’s ongoing commitment to increased transparency of clinical trials data of pharmaceuticals

– Put in place safeguards and exceptions to ensure that public interest data cannot be protected as trade secrets

– Ensure that the reduction in tariffs on medical devices is reflected in lower prices for purchasers and not higher profits for manufacturers

– Ensure that nothing in TTIP affects the ban on direct-to-consumer advertising of medicines and health technology products in the EU, or limit the US from regulating or restricting direct-to-consumer advertising in the future

Please click here to read the full TACD resolution on medicinal products and medical devices in the TTIP.