Besides financial services firms, there is probably only one other industry that has generated as much public anger in recent years—the pharmaceutical sector. Fiercely protective of its intellectual property, and fully aware that competitors are ready to pounce with cheaper versions of the same drug when the time is right, pharma firms have been ruthless in leveraging their stranglehold on consumers, so much so that the sector has been one of the worst hit by regulatory fines for anti-competitive—and downright shocking—behaviour over the past few years.
Consequently, in October a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held in Geneva, Switzerland, met to discuss anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry.
