2017 Social Forum Focuses On HIV, Other Epidemics, Access To Health 29/09/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The 2017 Social Forum, an annual meeting convened by the Human Rights Council, is being held next week in Geneva, and will focus on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of the HIV epidemic and other communicable diseases and epidemics.
Use Competition Law For Wider Access To Cheap Medicines? 27/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The topic of access to medicines has gained momentum in recent years as high prices of new medicines affect developing countries and developed countries. The role of competition legislation in preventing market abuses and monopoly situations has been pointed to as a possible lever to facilitate access to generic medicines and balance the potential negative effects of intellectual property protection.
Unitaid Official Explains How ‘Breakthrough’ HIV Medicine Pricing Deal Brings Best To The Neediest 25/09/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NEW YORK — In the midst of the high-level meetings of the annual United Nations General Assembly last week, health officials from the UN and foundations announced what they called a breakthrough pricing agreement that will speed the availability of “the first affordable, generic, single-pill HIV treatment regimen containing [the key compound] dolutegravir to public sector purchasers in low- and middle-income countries at around $75 per person, per year.” A senior official at Unitaid, the drug purchasing mechanism that helped reach the deal, explained to Intellectual Property Watch how it came about and why this is significant.
WHO Issues Alarming Report On Coming Shortage Of Antibiotics 20/09/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new report issued today by the World Health Organization shows a “serious lack” of new antibiotics in development, even as resistance to existing antibiotics are on the rise. The head of the WHO said the report shows an “urgent need” for investment into research and development. In addition, a second report today from WHO […]
Access To Generic Reproductive Health Supplies Decades Behind Medicines? 19/09/2017 by Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Despite a massive worldwide push to improve access to contraceptives, generic manufacturers say they’re not yet getting a good share of the pie. [Updated with response from UNFPA]
Malaysia Grants Compulsory Licence For Generic Sofosbuvir Despite Gilead Licence 15/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments A much cheaper version of a groundbreaking hepatitis C medicine is expected to be available soon for the hundreds of thousands of hepatitis C patients in Malaysia, as it decided to grant a compulsory licence to sofosbuvir, according to sources. The decision comes right after the medicine originator decided to expand its voluntary licensing scheme to four more countries, including Malaysia. [Updated]
Workshop To Address Public Interest And CRISPR Gene Editing, CAR T Cancer Treatment 04/09/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Experts at a one-day workshop in Washington DC next week will discuss public interest aspects of patents and two breakthrough new medical technologies related to gene editing (CRISPR) and cancer treatment (CAR T).
Better Data On Fake Drugs Needed To Fight The Scourge 30/08/2017 by Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The problem of fake medicines is a big one. But precisely how big? The problem is, when reporting numbers, news stories, reports and institutions have historically bundled the different kinds of medicines together, says an expert at the WHO.
Malaysia Inclusion In Gilead Voluntary Licence – A Product Of Compulsory Licence Pressure 24/08/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Gilead’s announcement today that they would include four middle-income countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Belarus, Ukraine) in their sofosbuvir voluntary licence was a welcome surprise, and will enable millions access to their highly effective, but exorbitantly priced, drug. The decision to include these countries, however, no doubt is a response to increasing pressure from within these countries to either issue a compulsory licence (CL) or a government use licence (GUL), invalidate the sofosbuvir patents, or block data exclusivity for the drug.
WIPO, IFPMA Speaker Says Despite Trump Actions, He Would Be US Science Envoy 24/08/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A United States State Department science envoy quit yesterday in protest over US President Donald Trump’s pullout from the Paris climate accord and defensive comments after violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. But according to a press report, Peter Hotez, a past science adviser who has been a featured speaker of a UN agency and pharmaceutical industry group in Geneva, is stepping up to offer his services without concern for Trump’s actions.
