Lucrative Drug Patents in Ireland Threatened By US Tariffs (1)

As tariffs begin to take their toll on Irish exports, some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies are assessing whether their decades-long arrangement to house intellectual property in Ireland is still viable.

The tariffs are also injecting a new sense of urgency in the Irish government to up its game by making its IP rules and research and development credits more attractive, with the hope of giving companies added reasons to stay put.

Relocating IP has historically saved the companies billions due to Ireland’s low tax rates, and allowed them to move additional billions in profits from other countries—mostly the ...