Special Report: With Poor And Uninsured A Majority, Southeast Asia Sees Rise In Generics 27/11/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Four of the world’s most populous nations are in Southeast Asia and with roughly two-thirds of its population lacking access to medicines, the region holds promise for the cheaper generic drugs. Already, observers are taking note of how the region is changing the dynamics of the global business.
WHO Members Meet This Week To Address Global Gaps In Medical R&D 25/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments World Health Organization member states and official non-governmental observers will gather at the WHO headquarters this week for an open-ended meeting to analyse the feasibility of new models for financing research and development for diseases lacking sufficient market incentives and public policies.
WHO Members Agree On Roadmap To Fight Poor Quality Medicines 22/11/2012 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The first meeting of the World Health Organization mechanism intended to promote the prevention and control of “substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit” (SSFFC) medical products is being called a success. Member states agreed on a work plan that focuses on strengthening regulatory capacities and decided to form a steering committee to monitor country compliance to the plan.
WTO Dispute Body Hears Sides On Australia Tobacco Law 20/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body yesterday heard arguments by parties in a dispute about Australia’s new public health law requiring tobacco imports to be in plain packaging as a way to discourage tobacco use. Honduras presented a challenge to the Australian law, saying it is not in line with WTO rules on intellectual property rights, while Australia said it is a “sound, well-considered” action in the name of public health.
WHO Denies Industry Money Unduly Influencing Non-Communicable Disease Fight 19/11/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan today issued a statement attempting to clarify the UN agency’s relationship with the industries – like producers of junk food and soda – in line to be regulated as the UN moves to battle globally rising noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Fixing Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime — Bill C-398 18/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Richard Elliott writes: Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) was a unanimous pledge by Parliament to help people dying in developing countries because they lack access to affordable medicines. So far, it has delivered only one medicine to one country since Parliament created it more than 8 years ago (in May 2004). CAMR is clearly not working; it needs to be reformed to address the unnecessary deficiencies and limitations that have rendered it cumbersome and user-unfriendly for both developing countries and the manufacturers of lower-cost, generic medicines – the two parties that need to make use of CAMR if patients are to get the medicines they need.
Global Fund Names Mark Dybul Executive Director 15/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria appointed Ambassador Mark Dybul, a former US Global AIDS Coordinator, as the new head of the organisation. Additionally, the Board decided to move forward on implementing a new funding model, replacing the rounds-based system.
Recent Research Highlights Potential Of Open Access In Drug Discovery 14/11/2012 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announced the identification of three potential drug classes for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases through the availability of hundreds of compounds in the public domain.
Medicines Patent Pool Names New Director 14/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Greg Perry, a longtime leader in the European generics industry, has been named the new executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool, a cutting-edge Geneva-based group working to increase access to affordable, high-quality medicines for HIV/AIDS patients in low and middle income countries.
Analysis: Argentine Court Clarifies What Patent Holders Can – And Cannot – Prohibit 14/11/2012 by Maximiliano Marzetti for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In the recent decision on the case “Novartis AG versus Laboratorios LKM SA re cease of use of patent” the Third Chamber of the Federal Civil and Commercial Appellate Court of Argentina set an important precedent in relation to the interpretation of the ius prohibendi of patent holders. In other words, the demarcation of what they can and cannot prohibit.