Biosimilars Present Opportunity, Challenge For Developing Countries, UNCTAD Group Says 23/01/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Biosimilars are a hot topic. Beyond the colossal profits foreseen by some, drawing a lot of interested parties into the game, developing countries mean to play a role in this new frontier. However, biosimilars – close copies of biopharmaceutical products – are difficult and very costly to produce and come as a challenge to the generic industry used to duplicating small molecules. And some warn about differences in regulatory requirements, which could effectively boot developing countries out of the global market.
WIPO Re:Search Celebrates 3 Years, Looks To The Future 20/01/2015 by William New and Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Several years ago, the World Intellectual Property Organization set up a project aimed at helping bring together those with intellectual property rights and those with ideas for research to develop medical products for people in need. The project, WIPO Re:Search, has gathered numerous partners and is beginning to look ahead to its next phases, including the possible eventuality of drug development, according to the WIPO secretariat.
WHO Report: Access, Affordability Of Medicines Key To Reducing Non-Communicable Diseases 19/01/2015 by James Cote for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A new report from the World Health Organization examines the Global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013-2020 (known as the Global NCD Action Plan) and provides some “lessons learnt from implementation.” The report calls for urgent action by governments to stop the “epidemic” of cancer and mostly preventable diseases from sources like tobacco use, salt intake, physical inactivity, and high blood pressure. This includes ensuring treatment is available and affordable, it says.
Gilead To Appeal India Patent Rejection, Hails Regulatory Approval 16/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Pharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead has given its side to this week’s story of the rejection of its patent on a hepatitis C treatment in India, and it insists it will prevail in making its medicines available in India on its terms.
Key Hepatitis C Patent Rejected In India 14/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 10 Comments Today’s rejection by the Patent Office Controller of India of a patent application by Gilead company for a key drug against hepatitis C is being hailed by advocates as a path to dramatically lower costs of treatment for the disease. Hepatitis C has been noteworthy for exorbitantly priced medicines over the past year. A look at the decision shows that a provision in India’s law continues to stop patent applications if they fail to show sufficient novelty and inventive step – and are subject to opposition.
WHO Executive Board To Address Reform, R&D Financing, Ebola, Budget 14/01/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The upcoming World Health Organization Executive Board annual January meeting will be 10 days. Included in the list of issues to be addressed are the engagement of the organisation with lobbyists and donors, antimicrobial resistance, and the potential establishment of a pooled fund of voluntary contributions for research and development for diseases primarily affecting developing countries.
Fight Against Ebola Gaining Ground As Vaccines Pass Tests, WHO Says 09/01/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Health Organization today optimistically announced progress in the search for efficient vaccines to fight the Ebola virus. Tests conducted so far show acceptable safety profiles, and public-private vaccine alliance Gavi has committed to fund Ebola vaccines.
Most-Read IP-Watch Stories In 2014: A Tale Of Staff Issues, India, Hot-Button Topics 07/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment All year long, Intellectual Property Watch expends great energy and resources to bring hundreds of carefully written, detailed stories on policymaking – technical committee meetings, legislation, negotiations, legal cases, and latest reports and papers. But in what is perhaps typical of readers everywhere, many of the best-read IP-Watch stories of 2014 were those few that involved elections and personnel issues and India, followed by a range of hot button issues such as high-priced medicines, copyright and knowledge access, patent valuation, or internet surveillance.
Will India, US Bridge Divide Over Intellectual Property Rights? 10/12/2014 by Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments There is an uptick in India-United States relations. US President Barack Obama will be in India in January as the chief guest at the country’s Republic Day Parade. Obama, who hosted India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington in September, will become the first US president to attend such a celebration, a display of India’s military might and ethnic diversity, as well as the first to visit India twice while in office.
UN Office Of Drugs And Crime Enters Debate Over Fake Medicines And IP 09/12/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been working for several years to fight “fraudulent” medicines in the global supply chain. But an alleged new draft model legislation it is developing includes intellectual property rights, an issue which has led to intensive debates in other international fora. This week, a closed-door UNODC informal expert group drafting the model legislation is meeting in Vienna.