On August 16, 2017 the Global Medicines Council published its Briefing Paper No 1that encapsulates presentations, discussions and recommendations of its Inaugural Meeting held in Tallahassee, Florida on April 14-15, 2017. The ideas behind the Global Medicines Council were initially discussed in Geneva, Switzerland in 2011, and further elaborated in meetings in Tremblant, Canada. The formal establishment of the Global Medicines Council as a non-profit organization followed the Florida meeting. The presentations in Briefing Paper No 1 cover a range of subject matter relating to achieving the goal of universal access to medicines, as well as encouraging sustainable patient-centric innovation.