Abstract
In the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the risks of individual pharmaceutical market players or groups of players taking measures to supply medications that may lead to an economically unjustified increase in drug prices or artificially create a shortage of products are increasing worldwide.
 Aims: Finding the best way to protecting intellectual property rights for medications in conditions of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
 Methods: The methodological basis of the study was formed by an integral and coordinated system of scientific methods that contributed to the study of such a complex socio-legal phenomenon as the availability of medicinal products in conditions of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, a synergistic approach was applied, which combined the special research methods of various branches of law, pharmaceutical science and practice.
 Results: The article reveals and identifies the distinctive features of using patent protection measures and parallel imports in the drug markets of various countries of the world and the impact of the TRIPS Agreement on the availability of medications for the public in conditions of the COVID-19.
 Conclusion: For many countries, including Ukraine, the introduction of parallel imports can be efficient in the short term. Allowing parallel imports of medications has significantly fewer negative consequences for the copyright holder, since the improper quality of the products, in which the invention is used without the use of a trademark, most often does not affect the business reputation of the patent owner. Nevertheless, the chosen model of permitting the use of parallel imports to ensure the availability of medications in Ukraine remains a topical and controversial issue that requires a lot of professional discussion. Legislators should be very careful and cautious about the development and implementation of the institution of parallel imports of medications to Ukraine paying attention to the development of a whole system of quality and transparency control for procedures related to parallel imports to this country.
Highlights
The relevance of the issues of developing competition in the pharmaceutical markets is primarily connected with their dynamic unfolding and direct impact on the living conditions and health of the population of the respective countries
The threat to the lives of the citizens of the country caused by COVID-19 has contributed to the introduction in Ukraine of a number of rules aimed at ensuring the availability of medications and treatments that, under certain conditions, have consequences similar to measures of parallel imports or related to their use, in particular, the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine Concerning the Treatment of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID19)" [39]
With the consent of a COVID-19 patient, it is allowed to use medications unregistered in Ukraine at the time of his/her treatment, if their efficiency has been proven in other developed countries and they are recommended by the respective official body of the USA, European Union member states, the UK, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Canada
Summary
The relevance of the issues of developing competition in the pharmaceutical markets is primarily connected with their dynamic unfolding and direct impact on the living conditions and health of the population of the respective countries. The massive spread of a virus that is dangerous to human health has become a new test for almost all countries of the world. ICTV announced “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” as the name of the new virus on 11 February 2020. This virus causes a disease in humans called “coronavirus disease (COVID-19)” [1]. The massive spread of this virus is confirmed by official WHO data. In the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the risks of individual pharmaceutical market players or groups of players taking measures to supply medications that may lead to an economically unjustified increase in drug prices or artificially create a shortage of products are increasing worldwide
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