PRESS RELEASE

PHARMACEUTICAL DRUGS: THE ANTITRUST AUTHORITY HOSTS A CONFERENCE BY THE UN’S WIPO (WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION) ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

On 19 and 20 March, the Antitrust Authority will host an International Conference jointly with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the UN body dealing with the protection of intellectual property in the world, so as to facilitate innovation and creativity. It is the first time that WIPO collaborates with an Italian institution in order to promote a dialogue between the subjects that most impact on the pharmaceutical sector: the competition authorities, the sector regulators and the companies. The world turnover of the pharmaceutical sector exceeds 300 billion dollars and might reach 400 million dollars over the next three years (WHO data). In Italy, during the first nine months of 2014, the pharmaceutical expenditure has amounted to 19.9 billion euros (data from the National Observatory on the Use of Medicines).

The works will be held at the Antitrust Authority’s Auditorium. The day of Thursday, 19 March, will be inaugurated by Giovanni Pitruzzella, President of the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority, and by Nuno Pires de Carvalho, Director of WIPO’s IP and Competition Policy Division. That will be followed by interventions, besides those from two members of the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority (Agcm)’s board, Gabriella Muscolo and Salvatore Rebecchini, from representatives of Antitrust Authorities in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) – where the interconnection between protection of intellectual property and competition has given rise to important questions about the right to health and access to drugs  –, of the European Commission and the companies operating in the national and international pharmaceutical sector.

The conference will see the participation of some of the leading international experts on intellectual property, including Damien Geradin, professor of competition and economics law at Tilbulg University (Netherlands) and at the George Mason University School of Law in Washington, who will deliver the keynote address. As for the regulators, there will instead be interventions by WIPO itself, by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Patent Office, the Italian Drug Agency and the Italian Patent and Trademark Office. The companies will be represented by the main European and national associations.

Rome, 18 March 2015