Original news and analysis on international IP policy
BRUSSELS - Trade agreements must not contain clauses on intellectual property rights that could imperil the poor’s access to affordable medicines, a veteran member of the European Parliament (MEP) has said.
Representatives of the World Health Organization and the European pharmaceutical industry today answered questions from the Council of Europe and the press on whether they had mishandled an outbreak of influenza this summer.
The World Health Organization today defended its declaration of a global influenza pandemic, and saying any allegations that it is fake are “wrong and irresponsible.” The statement comes as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) prepares for a public hearing tomorrow morning in Strasbourg to examine the allegations, involving representatives of the WHO and European vaccine manufacturers will be in attendance, as will independent medical experts.
With the United States Congress attempting to wrap up healthcare – a move made more difficult after a Republican won a traditionally Democratic US Senate seat in January - issues such as tax increases for the nation’s largest financial institutions, energy reform and others may take centre stage. But that’s not to say there is not some room for intellectual property issues to be considered. Upcoming issues may include patent reform, biologic drugs, internet neutrality, enforcement, and performance rights.
A new intergovernmental negotiation, facilitated by the World Health Organization director general, will address an agreement for sharing virus-related materials and benefits and managing associated intellectual property rights in the WHO strategy for responding to pandemic influenza outbreaks.
The first public discussion of an expert report on how to finance the often costly process of research and development to create new medicines, vaccines and diagnostics needed by the poor to address diseases that disproportionately effect them began this week at the World Health Organization. There were immediate concerns about the last-minute release of the report’s full text and concerns from several governments that it came up short on critical areas, and it was decided that an informal consultation process will take place over the next few months. Meanwhile, World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan said she has already begun an investigation to find out who leaked drafts of the expert group’s work to an international industry group in December.
The World Health Organization today declared it will launch a review of the global – including its own - response to the H1N1 swine influenza epidemic, as questions swirl around whether the UN agency trumped up the importance of H1N1. The WHO also faces charges this week that it has acted without transparency and inclusiveness in leading a process to find alternative financing for research and development into medicines for diseases occurring predominately in developing countries.
Finding financing to develop medicines for under-researched diseases, regulatory harmonisation, and pandemic influenza preparedness will top the agenda at next week’s World Health Organization Executive Board meeting.
联合援助国际药品采购机制（UNITAID，以下简称「联合援助」）执行理事会在十二月通过一项专利药品库的实施计划，藉以刺激开发中国家对重要药品之研究，并增加取得管道。根据联合援助表示，这个专利药品库将在2010年中开始运作；该组织并已选定十九种产品可望纳入药品库，同时还继续跟药厂协商，期能达成协议，让仿制药厂得以生产比较廉价的版本。
The European Union appears to be preparing for adoption of the "gold standard" of enforcement, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), as intellectual property law expert Annette Kur from the Max Planck Institute of Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law said it is now called.