Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Least-developed members of the World Trade Organization on 29 November agreed to extend the transition period for implementing the WTO agreement on intellectual property rights by seven and a half years, a reduction by half of their original request. In…
Bern, Switzerland – A day-long conference of experts on health issues demonstrated the range of views in the debate on how developing countries should best address their public health needs through international policies. Dominique Sprumont of the University of Neuchâtel…
Key officials in Geneva indicate that World Trade Organization members are not likely to find a compromise on a permanent amendment to global trade rules in order to allow poor countries to import affordable medicines in time for the December…
The US biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences has ended its dispute with the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche regarding the right to the anti-influenza drug, Tamiflu (oseltamivir) “in the interest of working together to address public health needs,” Gilead announced today. Tamiflu…
Lyon, France—Calling counterfeit medicines a “form of terrorism against public health,” a senior Nigerian health official urged a 14-15 November international conference in Lyon, France to support the adoption of an international convention to fight the problem. “I urge this…
Consumers worldwide are being left in the dark as to governments’ stockpiles in case of an avian influenza pandemic, and the pharmaceutical industry has been unclear about the medicine supplies available, concluded an intellectual property right panel in Geneva recently.…
Panelists at a Geneva workshop on intellectual property issues related to a possible avian influenza pandemic argued that IP rules and prices could make it difficult for nations to prepare sufficient stockpiles. Panelists argued that practical problems could arise with…
The World Health Organisation does not think patents will stand in the way of an effective public health action in the event of an outbreak of avian flu in humans because pharmaceutical companies have showed a willingness to co-operate, a…
Strategy for a possible outbreak of avian flu has been elevated from a national to an international level with a high-level meeting on a “plan of action” being held this week at the World Health Organisation. Intellectual property rights are…
As nations prepare for a possible avian flu pandemic, some observers are raising questions about a seemingly obscure footnote in international trade law under which dozens of governments have agreed not to import cheap generic drugs made for poor countries.…