DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i05.044

Pages: 1672-1676

Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is an agreement which being argued as to bring many economic benefits to signatory countries. FTA generally aims at removing trade barriers and this lead to the free movement of goods and services between member countries. Indeed, FTA will give greater access to member countries economy. Despite the potential benefits that it may bring, analysts have cautioned on the negative effect that FTA may produce. The areas of coverage in recent FTAs which include chapter on intellectual property have become subject of heated debate. Among the issues being highlighted is the introduction of many new provisions in recent FTAs involving developed nations which are not in the Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Provisions like data exclusivity, patent term restoration and patent linkage are debated to bring adverse effects on a country’s access to medicines. In relation to Malaysia’s recent participation in FTA which involves developed country such as the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), this study attempts to examine the impact of patent linkage only on access to medicine in Malaysia. The impact of this provision on medicine price and medicine expenditure in Malaysia is estimated using Model of Impact Changes in Intellectual Property Rights. This paper attempts to systematically examine the impact of Patent Linkage on Medicine Access and fill in the research gap on this area of study.