Global Influenza Initiative Celebrates 10 Years, Adds Former WHO Official 21/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As the annual World Health Assembly opened today, a global initiative for sharing influenza genetic data celebrated its tenth anniversary and announced new senior advisors for international affairs and biosecurity issues, one of which is Marie-Paule Kieny, former World Health Organization Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation.
Five Years After The Indian Supreme Court’s Novartis Verdict 20/05/2018 by Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch 13 Comments On 1 April 2013, in a packed room inside India’s Supreme Court, a magnificent building in Indo-British architectural style, two judges delivered a verdict that impacted the national and global conversation about patents and patients. India’s apex court delivered a 112-page landmark judgement which dismissed Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG’s appeal for a patent for its life-saving cancer drug marketed under brand name Glivec in most parts of the world. The Novartis case triggered a hugely polarising discourse around the world about a key feature of India’s patent regime.
Patent Backlogs Fuel Efforts To Extend Pharma Patent Terms In Thailand And Brazil, AIDS Activists Say 18/05/2018 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 17 Comments For a variety of reasons, Thailand and Brazil have huge backlogs of pharmaceutical patent applications. The delay in patent examinations is creating pressure on the countries to extend patent protection terms to the detriment of access to affordable medicines, AIDS organisations say.
The Patent Paradox In Brazil And Its Implications For Access To Medicines 18/05/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Brazil is frequently pointed to as one of the countries in which fewer pharmaceutical patents are granted. The fact that there is a low number of patents granted could lead to the conclusion that medicines can be bought under competition and that the prices would be low. However, many medicines in Brazil are bought exclusively from one producer and usually at high prices. The situation of few granted patents, but many purchases under exclusivity due to absence of competition (which can lead to higher prices), is what we are calling the ‘patent paradox in Brazil’. In the absence of granted patents, what are the factors that lead to the situation of no competition and high prices in Brazil? This is the question that we, at the accessibsa: Innovation & Access to Medicines in India, Brazil & South Africa, aim to answer with a study currently being conducted at the Department of Medicines Policy and Pharmaceutical Services (NAF) of the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health – ENSP/Fiocruz.
TRIPS Flexibilities In High Demand 16/05/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Using flexibilities in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has long been an issue of the developing world. But policymakers gathered at a meeting on access to health in Brussels today said there was an urgent need for European Union countries, too, to make more use of flexibilities.
Groups Target EU-Mercosur FTA To Advance Access To Health In Trade Deals 16/05/2018 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 12 Comments AIDS activists, health activists and civil society organizations in Brazil and Argentina are pushing back against the negative effects of the planned free trade agreement between the Mercosur countries and the European Union. The EU-Mercosur negotiations might be the best chance as of now to advance an intellectual property agenda that is more favourable to access to health, says Pedro Villardi, coordinator on IP policy issues at the Associação Brasiliera Interdisciplinar de Aids Observatorio National de Politicas de Aids (ABIA).
Trump Declares Intent To Stop Pharma Companies From ‘Gaming’ Patent System 11/05/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments US President Trump today declared in a White House speech his intent to “take steps” to lower drug prices by stopping “gaming of regulatory and patent processes by drug makers to unfairly protect monopolies,” as well as increasing price transparency and promoting biosimilars and generics. But to do this, his administration will take on what it sees as “freeloading” on US innovation by foreign governments, and addressing “unfair” intellectual property and market access policies in trade agreements.
Study Finds Rise In Use Of India’s Section 3(d) Against Pharma Primary Patents 11/05/2018 by Adithi Koushik for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Access to affordable medicines is one of the most pressing policy issues globally. India has played a prominent role as “pharmacy of the developing world” with its generic medicine industry; however, the interpretation and implementation of a particular section of the law can significantly affect this role, according to a recent study.
Collective Efforts By Civil Society Groups Bar The Way To Hepatitis C Patents 10/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 14 Comments Many hold the view that Gilead’s revolutionary treatment against hepatitis C (sofosbuvir) marked the beginning of a shift in position toward the high prices of medicines, as high-income countries were also faced with an untenable burden to their health systems. In a number of lower and middle-income countries, civil society organised itself to increase access to sofosbuvir for millions in need.
Truvada Case Shows Civil Society’s Success With Pre-Grant Opposition 08/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 15 Comments The example of Gilead antiretroviral Truvada in Argentina and Brazil shows how civil society efforts to use patent opposition to patents it felt were unjustified were rewarded by patent withdrawal and rejection, even if the situation in Brazil might not be entirely settled.