USA and Brazil pharma feud

To ensure antiretroviral (ARVs) treatment is not too expensive, Brazil continually pressures pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices, threatening to issue 'compulsory licenses' for drugs, which give governments the ability to override patent laws and produce generic drugs in a public health emergency.

The USA complains to the World Trade Organization, saying it threatens intellectual property rights and would discourage further ARV production. Brazil argues that drug firms could easily afford to reduce prices and that profits in richer countries provide enough incentive to continue ARV production. The USA eventually drops the case.