Category Health & IP

London Declaration Report Shows Progress But More Needed Against Neglected Tropical Diseases

A newly released report by the wide-ranging joint London Declaration initiative to fight neglected tropical diseases shows progress in elimination of diseases and the number of people treated. However, in order to reach universal health coverage, efforts have to be intensified, according to the World Health Organization director general. The pharmaceutical industry, meanwhile, said it is ready to live up to its pledge made five years ago and expand donations programmes.

Greg Perry Resigns As Director Of Medicines Patent Pool

After nearly five years as the executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool, Greg Perry has stepped down with little notice. [Update: the next day, it was announced that he has joined the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) in Geneva.]

WIPO Delegates Told Patent Information Essential, Given Revealing Data On Medicines Access and Trade

World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee delegates heard a number of presentations this week on the relationship between patents and health, and access to medicines. The importance of patent information and accurate, up-to-date databases was underlined, particularly for procurement. The weight of intellectual property rights on the issue of access to medicines and prices and generic market entry was pointed out, but so were other factors, such as the small percentage of new drugs with added benefit, tariffs, and trade delays.

G-Finder Report: Global Funding For R&D In Neglected Diseases Increasing, Overreliance On US Funding Dangerous

A report released today on global funding of research and development for neglected diseases found that global funding has increased but warns that overreliance on funding from the United States, which the report says is "unparalleled," and leads to a heavy concentration of global funding on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. This overreliance could also lead to change in total global funding, the report found.

Patents And Health Under Discussion At WIPO This Week: What Role For The UN IP Agency?

Patents are often involved in public health policy discussions, and are considered by some as playing a major role in the escalating prices of new medicines, creating access issues. The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on patent law this week is discussing the issue and is holding information sessions by the Medicines Patent Pool, World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization.

Medicines Patent Pool Expands Its Patent Database To Cancer Treatments

The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announced today that MedsPaL, its database of information on the patent and licensing status of selected HIV, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis medicines, now extends to patented treatments on the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines. New patents data include medicines for leukaemia, breast cancer and other cancer indications.

New UNCTAD, GIZ Toolbox: How To Achieve Policy Coherence For Local Production And Access To Medicines

What do investment, trade, intellectual property, health financing, R&D, industrial and medicines regulation policy have in common? They are all important building blocks for the successful promotion of local pharmaceutical manufacturing. As more and more countries are looking into building their own pharmaceutical production capacities, they need to ensure strong policy coherence to be successful.

Global Biotech Industry Tests Policy Waters In Geneva

A delegation of heads of biotechnology companies visited Geneva this month to present the International Confederation of Biotechnology Trade Associations (ICBA). The ICBA was created in 2012, but is now looking to make its voice heard in Geneva and inform policy discussions, and is finding it is not easy to become an observer in some organisations. They also underlined the importance of intellectual property for the biotech sector, in particular to attract indispensable capital. The delegation sat down with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez to talk about their Geneva visit.

EU-MERCOSUR FTA Puts At Risk Access To Medicines In Brazil, New Impact Assessment Study Finds

The European Union (EU) is currently negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the four founding members of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), which comprises a chapter on intellectual property rights (IPR). A new round of negotiations is taking place from November 29th to December 8th in Brussels[1]. Word is that they aim to announce the closure of the agreement at the next World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference that will be held from 10-13 of December in Buenos Aires and the clock is ticking to close all the chapters before that. The authors have conducted a study that shows the adoption of the measures proposed by the EU could put the sustainability of access to health policies in Brazil at risk, as they could sharply increase public expenditures on medicines.