Article Summary On October 5, 2015, 12 Nations, Including the United States

Article Summary
On October 5, 2015, 12 nations, including the United States, reached an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty, a free-trade agreement that has been negotiated in total secrecy for more than five years.One of the more controversial parts of the agreement deals with intellectual property rights, with details of this provision released to the public by the Website Wikileaks.According to Wikileaks, the intellectual property rights section of the TPP contains regulations that would potentially have "wide-ranging effects on internet services, medicines, publishers, civil liberties, and biological patents." Included in these regulations is the potential to extend patents on pharmaceuticals which could delay the development of less expensive, generic versions of the patented drugs.
Source: Doug Bolton, "TPP leaked: Wikileaks releases intellectual property chapter of controversial internet and medicine-regulating trade agreement," independent.co.uk, October 9, 2015.
-Refer to the Article Summary above.If the 12 nations that are a part of the TPP do agree to these stricter pharmaceutical patent laws as a way to increase intellectual property rights, all of the following would most likely occur except

A) pharmaceutical companies would increase investment in the development of more experimental drugs.
B) pharmaceutical companies would consider expanding operations to these TPP nations.
C) more patents would be issued to pharmaceutical companies.
D) fewer dollars would be spent on the development of new medicines.

Correct Answer:

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