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.
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.
Study Shows Drug Patents Can Be Extended For Decades 09/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The industry practice of extending patent protection on pharmaceuticals by obtaining additional patents on other features of the drug ingredients can lead to decades of delay in generic competition, a new study argues.
WHO Negotiations On Global Monitoring Framework Seen As Success In Non-Communicable Disease Fight 09/11/2012 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments World Health Organization members this week achieved consensus on a set of voluntary targets and indicators for the prevention and control of the world’s biggest killers including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases. Two targets and several indicators relate to national health systems response.
Technical Meeting Advances Ideas For WHO-Led R&D Financing Framework 09/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment An outside meeting of experts has prepared a report ahead of this month’s gathering of World Health Organization members hoping to agree on new models for financing research and development for diseases lacking adequate market mechanisms and public policies. These include neglected diseases that predominantly affect poor populations unable to pay high prices needed to defray R&D costs under the existing commercial model.
Pharma Outlook: Don’t Yield On IP, Work On Trust-Building, Call For Global Cooperation 01/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) held its 26th assembly this week and elected its new president. He presented the future orientation of the industry group, saying will work on trust-building and needs predictability in the regulatory process, policies that sustain and encourage innovation, and a strong intellectual property system, he said.