John has conducted longstanding research on the globalization of pharmaceuticals involving scores of interviews with stakeholders from the pharmaceutical industry, government regulatory agencies, patients organizations, experts from the medical profession, and civil society groups. His main focus has been on the globalizing tenedencies of the pharmaceutical industry and how that relates to global governance, particularly the international organizations, the International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). In so doing, this work has investigated the politics of globalization in relation to techno-scientific standards for drug testing and regulation (ICH), provision of essential medicines for public health (WHO), and patents/intellectual property rights for pharmaceuticals (WTO). This theme is exemplified in the following publications:
John Abraham and Tim Reed (2001) ‘Trading risks for markets: the international harmonisation of pharmaceutical regulation’ Health, Risk & Society 3: 113-28.
John Abraham and Tim Reed (2003) ‘Globalization of medicines control’ in (eds.) J. Abraham and H. LawtonSmith, The Regulation of the Pharmaceutical Industry, pp. 82-107, Palgrave.
John Abraham (2009) ‘The International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use’ in (eds.) C. Tietje & A. Brouder, Handbook of Transnational Economic Organisation, pp. 1041-1055, Martinus Nijhoff.
John Abraham and Tim Reed (2002) ‘Progress, innovation and regulatory science: the politics of international standard-setting’ Social Studies of Science 32: 337-69.
John Abraham (2004) ‘Pharmaceuticals, the state and the global harmonisation process’ Australian Health Review 28: 150-160.
John Abraham (2007) ‘Drug trials and evidence bases in international regulatory context’ BioSocieties 2(1): 41-56.
John Abraham (2009) ‘Global health challenges in the pharmaceutical world’ Health Economics, Policy and Law 4: 115-27.