PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Policy
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1630586
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Strategies for Urban Public Health Resilience in Crisis SituationsView all 23 articles
Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceuticals During Public Health Crisis: A TRIPS Framework Analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1Civil and Commercial Law School, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, ChongQing, China
- 2Law School, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequities in global healthcare resource allocation, reigniting debates over international intellectual property (IP) protections. Among existing flexibility mechanisms, the TRIPS Agreement's compulsory licensing provisions serve as a critical tool to ensure access to essential medicines. Member states can invoke Article 31(b)'s ‘national emergency’ or ‘other circumstances of extreme urgency’ clauses to utilize patented Pharmaceuticals for public health emergencies without prior authorization, a mechanism already effectively employed by multiple nations during the pandemic. However, due to procedural complexities and potential trade disputes associated with TRIPS, some developing countries have advocated for temporary IP waivers as an alternative solution. It must be emphasized that compulsory licensing retains unique value in balancing public health needs with IP protections. To better prepare for future health crises, improvements to the TRIPS compulsory licensing tool could focus on two priorities: prioritizing essential medicine accessibility over price control objectives, and enhancing local pharmaceutical production capabilities in developing nations.
Keywords: TRIPS, Compulsory licensing, Waiver, Public Health, Access to medicines
Received: 18 May 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Peng Guo, Law School, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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