Improving access to HIV/AIDS treatment in Brazil : when are compulsory licenses effective in price negotiations?

Since 1996, Brazil has an anti-AIDS programme that offers universal and free access to antiretroviral through the public-sector health system. An important part of the successful implementation of this programme is the capacity of the Brazilian government to reduce the price of treatments. This capacity is based on the threat to issue compulsory license for patented medicines and on the existence of a domestic pharmaceutical industry involved in the production of antiretroviral. Based on a game theoretical model of drug price negotiations and on 30 interviews, this research proposes to enlighten further the industrial dimension of this successful programme, refine the conditions lying at its heart and re-specify the issues concerning its potential replication in other developing countries.