 Commons and the Political Economy of Access: Generics, Neo-traditional Formulations and the Dominant Intellectual Property Regime of MedicinesKathryn Ibata Arens (),
Jean-Paul Gaudillière,
Harilal Madhavan and
Etienne Nouguez
Chapter 11 in Capitalism, Innovations, and Health after Covid-19, 2026, pp 389-425 from Springer Abstract: Abstract This chapter scrutinizes the entrenched intellectual property rights (IPRs) regime, a cornerstone of contemporary pharmaceutical capitalism, questioning the assumed indispensability of patents for incentivizing innovation. Historically, the monopoly of IPRs in drug invention and production, particularly evident between the 1930s and 1960s, marked a significant shift, reorienting drug production into a capitalistic, industrial process rooted in chemical knowledge. This period’s paradigmatic shift was not definitive; alternative drug-making regimes persist, reflecting the diverse facets of pharmaceutical capitalism. This chapter develops a “commons” framework in knowledge and access to essential medicines, a concept encompassing alternative production arrangements and experiences that challenge the IPRs’ dominance, proposing a recalibration of the moral compass for the global intellectual property rights regime. The chapter delves into two notable instances of such arrangements: generics and neo-traditional (Sometimes referred to as “poly-herbal” or “natural medicinal” formulations). preparations, the latter stemming from Asian medical traditions. These are analyzed through exploring how these collective resources are established and sustained as public goods by the state. This reflects tensions within pharmaceutical capitalism between innovations driven by human-health needs (see the concept of care-led innovation in Lechevalier, 2026) and by profit-motivated private companies. The exploration begins with generics, pivotal in ensuring drug access since the late 1960s, both in the global North and South. For example, while French generics emerge from expired patents, maintaining the status quo of the extant global IPR system, they nonetheless offer an alternative to the innovation system, providing institutional legitimacy and cheaper access for proven drugs. Indian generics, conversely, are borne out of significant legal and social conflicts, challenging and reinterpreting IPRs to address public health emergencies, thus constituting a different form of commons. The subsequent section navigates the terrain of neo-traditional medicinal formulations within globalized Asian medicine. It focuses on the industrialized production and distribution of classical remedies and newly invented compositions targeting contemporary ailments. Cases from China, India, and Japan underscore the complex interplay between traditional knowledge and the forces of industrialization and globalization. In sum, the chapter posits that the moral economy of drugs, through generics and neo-traditional formulations, embodies a multifaceted response to the monolithic IPR regime, signifying the coexistence of diverse drug-making regimes within the overarching structure of pharmaceutical capitalism. This diversity is reflected in how states, through different processes of innovation and contestation within pharmaceutical capitalism have made essential medicines accessible by transforming private goods into (commons adjacent) public goods. Date: 2026 There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-24479-6_11 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-24479-6_11 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Springer Books from Springer |
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