Brazil's Use of Compulsory Licenses for AIDS Medicines.

The use of compulsory licenses has become increasingly commonplace in the developing world for the purchase of essential medicines marketed by transnational pharmaceutical companies. The use of this legal instrument outlined by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has been particularly prevalent for anti-retrovirals, medicines used to treat AIDS/HIV, due the epidemic's high visibility and demands from organized civil society groups. This paper argues that the TRIPS accord represents an institutional shift in terms of the regulatory aspects of globalization that directly impacts social policies in the developing world. But normative pressures concerning the legitimate use of compulsory licenses have changed as a result of waning US hegemonic power. A case study of Brazil's use of compulsory licenses in the purchase of AIDS medicines provides evidence to support these assertions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]