Global position statement on intellectual property (IP)

Intellectual property (IP) encourages and protects innovation, promoting future research and development (R&D) of innovative medicines for patients with unmet needs. BMS supports strong and effective protection of IP rights and believes that an effective IP framework is essential for the viability of the biopharmaceutical industry and efforts to deliver innovative medicine. BMS is a signatory of the IP Principles for Advancing Cures and Therapies (IP PACT), which affirms the industry’s strong commitment to innovation and to keeping the needs of patients at the heart of our IP practices.

BMS believes that all pharmaceutical inventions should be judged on their merits and be provided appropriate protections afforded by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). BMS believes that patents promote competition and do not create a therapeutic monopoly.

Patents help advance public health through collaboration and disclosure of breakthrough innovations. BMS publicly discloses patent status for small molecules in scope via the Pat-INFORMED database. BMS also has a longstanding collaboration with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) on voluntary licensing. Compulsory licenses should only be used in extraordinary circumstances and not to undermine important IP rights to contain costs.