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Licensing Life-Saving Drugs for Developing Countries: Evidence from the Medicines Patent Pool

  • University of Toronto
  • Centre for Economic Policy Research, London

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the effects of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP)—an institution that pools patents across geographical markets—on the licensing and adoption of life-saving drugs in low- and middle-income countries. We show the presence of an immediate and large increase in licensing when a patent is included in the MPP. We also show evidence that the pool increases actual entry and volume of sales, but these impacts are much smaller than on licensing, which is due to the geographic bundling of licenses. The paper highlights the potential of pools in promoting diffusion of biomedical innovation in developing countries.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1529-1541
Number of pages13
JournalReview of Economics and Statistics
Volume106
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2024
Externally publishedYes

Funding

Funders
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines
London School of Economics and Political Science

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