Morning Briefing

"China has overhauled parts of its intellectual property laws to allow its drug makers to make cheap copies of medicines still under patent protection in an initiative likely to unnerve foreign pharmaceutical companies," Reuters reports (Lyn, 6/8). "The amended patent law allows Beijing to issue compulsory licenses to eligible companies to produce generic versions of patented drugs during state emergencies, unusual circumstances, or in the interests of the public," Al Jazeera writes, adding, "For 'reasons of public health,' eligible drug makers can also ask to export these medicines to other countries, including members of the World Trade Organization (WTO)" (6/9).