IPRs Feature Prominently In WTO Trade Policy Review Of India 03/06/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Intellectual property rights are among the issues given detailed analysis in the latest trade policy review of India by the World Trade Organization under review this week. Turns out, India has been quite busy on IP rights over the past few years.
UN Review Of WSIS Intensifies; Questions About ICANN Board Role In IANA Handover 02/06/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This year’s United Nations review of implementation of the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is picking up pace. Meanwhile, intensive efforts continue to meet a September target for the handover from the United States of key underlying functions of the internet.
WHO Engagement With Non-State Actors: No Deal This Year, Work To Continue 26/05/2015 by Catherine Saez and William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The annual World Health Assembly closed today following a decision to postpone for one year completion of a new policy on the UN agency’s engagement with industry, foundations and other “non-state actors.”
WHA 68: Experts Discuss Delinking R&D Costs From Pricing To Make Medicines Affordable 25/05/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The problem of drug prices eating up national health budgets has been coming up at the annual World Health Assembly. Last week, a panel of experts discussed the merits of lowering those prices by delinking research and development costs from pricing.
WHO Advances R&D Financing Effort; Global R&D Observatory To Launch In January 24/05/2015 by Catherine Saez and William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments World Health Organization members in committee this week took note of a report by the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (CEWG), which was set up to find ways to fund research on diseases afflicting poor populations which have little market incentive for the private sector. The report included a proposal for a voluntary pooled fund that would focus on the development of effective and affordable health technologies for such neglected diseases.
European Council Takes Action To Advance Marrakesh Treaty For Blind Persons 21/05/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Council of member states yesterday adopted a decision asking the European Commission to draft legislation on Europe’s ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty on increasing access to publications for blind and visually impaired readers.
Five Challenges Filed Against Gilead Patent Claims For Hepatitis C Drug 20/05/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences has been noted first for developing a treatment for hepatitis C, which afflicts tens of millions around the world, and then for pricing it at jaw-dropping prices ($1000 per pill) in the United States and elsewhere. Now a group of health advocates has challenged Gilead’s patent applications in five emerging economies.
WHA68: Global Vaccine Plan Lagging; New Proposal To Lower Prices 19/05/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments An assessment of the World Health Organization Global Vaccine Action Plan aimed at delivering vaccination to all and boosting research into new vaccines found implementation to be “far off-track” in some areas. Today at the World Health Assembly, Libya put forward a new proposal at the Assembly to reduce vaccine prices and increase availability in developing countries.
World Health Assembly Opens: Time Of Change At WHO; G-7 Involved 18/05/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments “The Ebola outbreak shook this organization to its core,” World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan said in opening the WHO’s annual assembly today. And the need to better construct the world’s emergency response systems has the biggest economies on the podium, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking as chair of the Group of 7.
WHO Leads Effort To Build R&D Roadmap For Future Epidemics 15/05/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Health Organization is working to learn from the fast response on research and development for Ebola that led to effective treatments in a short time. It hopes that this changes the way R&D for emergency vaccines is done forever.