Does patent policy foster innovation? - The case of Chagas disease

Abstract

Objective: Chagas disease is a tropical disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, being considered neglected by the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, it is estimated that 1.9 to 4.6 million people are infected with this parasite in Brazil. However, despite the alarming numbers, very few treatments are available for this disease. Considering that the aim of the intellectual property policy must be to stimulate innovation and technological development, the objective of this research is to verify whether the institutional system of patents may be contributing to foster research and development of medical products for Chagas disease. Methodologies: This empirical research carries out a methodological approach, based on the rules of inferences, developed by Epstein and King (2013) and on the data coding, proposed by Charmaz (2014), utilizing the grounded theory. Results: The main result is that the legal patent system, at national level, seems to distance itself from its original objective, concerning the development of products for the prevention and / or cure of Chagas disease by the private sector. Contributions: The most relevant contribution is the participation of public institutions in the patenting process related to Chagas disease, which corroborates the notion that these organizations assume the role of economic policy instruments as scientific development is combined with social interest as far as the attempt to develop medical products for the population affected by the disease is concerned.