ITPC Global hosted the Global Summit on Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines (GSIPA2M) from May 13 to 15 in Marrakesh, Morocco under the theme “TRIPS@30: The Access Crisis.
Organized by ITPC Global and the Make Medicines Affordable consortium, the summit brought together over 100 activists, policymakers, and researchers to share strategies, build alliances, and demand a world where treatment is a right, not a privilege. From confronting 30 years of TRIPS impact to honoring the legacy of fearless activists, this year’s summit in Marrakech brought powerful voices together over three days to challenge injustice and strategize on the global fight for access to medicines.
“[It is] powerful — and deeply symbolic — to gather again in the birthplace of TRIPS, not to commemorate it, but to confront it, and to chart a new, bolder path forward,” said Solange Baptiste, Executive Director, ITPC Global in her opening remarks at GSIPA2M.
Thirty years ago, the World Trade Organization was born in Marrakech, and with it, the TRIPS Agreement, a sweeping set of global rules on intellectual property (IP) was signed, promising innovation, but delivering inequality. For three decades, the TRIPS Agreement has undermined the right to health globally by enabling IP rules to stand in the way of life-saving treatment.
“This is where TRIPS began, and it’s where the global access movement comes to demand justice. Communities in the MENA region know firsthand the cost of monopolies and neglect. This summit is our moment to shift the narrative — locally and globally — toward equity, solidarity, and health for all,” said Mohammed Zniber, Chairperson of ITPC MENA.
A Bold Call to Action
“We’re still living in a world where life-saving medicines are treated like luxury goods — locked behind walls of monopoly, price, and power. Where your treatment depends on your income, your location, your passport,” Baptiste stated. “When access becomes a privilege, resistance is our duty.”
Baptiste highlighted the many successes of Make Medicines Affordable campaign members, comprising of health organizations in the Global South, who together have secured compulsory licensed HIV drugs in Colombia, resisted TRIPS-plus provisions in several free trade agreements, and challenged inequitable patents across corners of the globe from Argentina to Morocco and India to Ukraine.
“The Global South isn’t waiting for permission — we are already the engine of access, equity, and solutions. We are not begging to be included. We are demanding to be heard — and we are leading the way. Even in the midst of war, collapse, and crisis — we keep pushing,” she said.
Referencing “a rupture in the global order” due to factors including the collapsing of donor funding, increased global conflict and climate disasters, and a shrinking civic space, Baptiste called on attendees not just to reform a broken system, but to create bold alliances to confront a system “that was never designed to center equity, community, or justice.”
Baptiste also addressed colleagues in government who were at the summit, reminding them of their responsibility, and calling on them to take bold action. “We know the pressures you face: the lobbyists, the donors, the trade negotiators. But we also know your power — and your responsibility …. Access to medicines is not a policy option — it is a human right.”
GSIPA2M Highlights
At GSIPA2M, participants discussed tackling IP barriers-related issues such as TRIPS flexibilities, international law reform, and the threat of TRIPS-plus provisions, sharing successes to date and highlighting ongoing challenges in their fight to achieve health equity through democratizing access to life-saving medicine. Through regional strategy sessions, activists gathered with regional allies to share experiences and strategize on how to strengthen cross-regional collaborations.
In the midst of an escalating access crisis, participants examined the intersections of global health funding collapse, reflecting on major recent global cuts to global health funding and aid, and strategizing on how to fill this gap. President Trump’s unprecedented orders to freeze U.S. foreign aid and withdraw from the WHO have had sweeping, devastating impacts on the global health sector, with thousands of global aid programs being forced to terminate operations overnight and tens of thousands of people losing their jobs. Given this collapse of international aid in recent months, which have devastated the global AIDS response and threatened global health research, panelists emphasized the critical need for innovative funding solutions and community-centered resilience.
“We will [have] 5 million [people] dying, over 10 million new infections due to aid cuts — and we have a deafening silence from pharma companies this time, precisely those companies who have made billions of dollars from selling ARV treatments,” said Andrew Hill, a senior visiting Research Fellow at Liverpool University.
The core of discussions revolved around IP and affordability of medicines as essential more than ever in these uncertain times. Participants shared experiences on key TRIPS flexibilities, including patent oppositions and compulsory licenses (CLs). As a compelling example, participants highlighted the impact of the Make Medicines Affordable (MMA) campaign. Over the past decade, community-based organizations involved in the campaign have filed 137 patent oppositions across more than 20 countries. These efforts have resulted in the removal of 50 patent barriers and contributed to price reductions on over 14 medicines in 11 countries — with price drops ranging from 10% to 99%. In Argentina alone, civil society filed patent oppositions that led to the rejection or withdrawal of monopolies, saving an estimated $547 million in public spending over eight years. The call was clear: center efforts on people, not patents, and build a strong community movement for access.
Participants raised serious concerns about the limitations of voluntary licenses, noting that many contain restrictive clauses that block broader access, especially in low- and middle-income countries. These challenges underscore the need for continued advocacy and more transparent, inclusive licensing models.
Activists and experts highlighted ongoing struggles against TRIPS-plus provisions in trade agreements and national laws that undermine access to medicines, such as recent developments in Thailand. Legal reform and stronger patentability criteria were identified as key tools to improve access, with countries sharing both challenges and successes. Speakers emphasized the need to balance intellectual property obligations with public health priorities, promote grassroots-driven legal reform, make strategic use of TRIPS flexibilities, and foster South-South cooperation.
Government representatives and advocates provided concrete examples of national actions: Egypt’s IP authority (EGIPA) strengthened patent examination to curb evergreening; Kyrgyz Republic allows compulsory licensing to secure access to treatment; Colombia issued a compulsory license on dolutegravir, reducing its price from $100 to $4 per pack and defending the decision in court; and Ukraine reformed patent guidelines to limit evergreening in the pharmaceutical sector. These and other examples, shared by seven countries, demonstrated how governments can play a transformative role in reshaping IP governance to prioritize public health.
In a plenary session on scaling local production, participants discussed how public pharma, unlike big pharma, should have a fully state-owned infrastructure and cooperate regionally and internationally for the interests of all as science and knowledge are collective, rather than privatize knowledge, in addition to seeking compulsory licensing. Participants were inspired by the case study of Thailand, where the Government Pharmaceutical Organization provided a compelling case for the critical role of national drug security and the power of state-led production to reduce reliance on imports and ensure long-term access. Participants highlighted the heavy dependency of African countries on foreign pharmaceutical companies, with 70% of health products imported and nearly half of the continent lacking any local production capacity. Infrastructure gaps and high production costs were identified as major barriers. Public pharmaceutical models were presented as a solution to ensure access to health technologies and uphold collective knowledge.
The importance of regional cooperation to reduce dependency, and ensure the affordability of medicines was also evidenced. On the topic of cross-country collaboration, Matthew Herder (Dalhousie University, Canada) reflected on the evolving landscape of mRNA technology hubs and the challenges that must be addressed by their architects to enable more equitable and effective technology transfer.
Other panels included a discussion on human rights, which emphasized rights-based frameworks as essential tools for resistance and collective action. Speakers called for renewed energy in the fight for social justice, highlighting the importance of defending past gains, reconnecting with local communities, broadening alliances beyond the health sector, revitalizing community engagement, and resisting despair to stay mobilized.
A critical discussion, co-organized with the Third World Network, focused on the WHO Pandemic Treaty and its implications for access to medicines. Participants warned that current negotiations risk entrenching monopolies and excluding communities from decision-making. Alongside the treaty, reforms to the International Health Regulations and TRIPS Agreement were examined, with a shared concern: without transparency, equity, and public interest at the core, these global processes may reinforce, rather than resolve, the systemic injustices exposed by past health crises.
Discussions also addressed next-generation access challenges, including the rise of biologics and artificial intelligence in pharmaceuticals, the growing threat of climate-sensitive diseases, the impact of instability and conflict in many regions, and newer areas of intervention such as patents on the MPOX vaccine.
GSIPA2M concluded with the launch of a collective declaration on the access crisis drafted by a working group during the summit, reinforcing the urgent need for solidarity and coordinated action in the months and years ahead.
Access Solange Baptise’s opening remarks in full here and additional GSIPA2M highlights here.