Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A newly announced partnership between the UN World Intellectual Property Organization and the international pharmaceutical industry to set up a database of medicines patents announced this month to the surprise of governments and civil society was an idea originally brought to WIPO by a group of companies in February of this year. Now they appear to be encouraging others to join in.
A mechanism to systematically assess trade agreements from a public health perspective, including accession agreements of the World Trade Organization and European Patent Office’s validation agreements is needed, says Ellen ´t Hoen, senior researcher at the Global Health Unit of the University Medical Centre, Groningen, The Netherlands. who publishes the Medicines Law and Policy website.
PARIS -- La Revue Prescrire, a French journal for healthcare professionals, has chosen “Private Patents and Public Health” — a 2016 book written by Ellen ’t Hoen — as one of four winners of its 2017 Prescrire Prize Book Award. Calling it “a major reference work on access to medicines and the patent system,” Prescrire praised ’t Hoen’s book both for its extensive collection of data and examples as well as its readability. (Medicines Law & Policy contributor, Kaitlin Mara was the editor of the book).
NEW YORK -- Assuring the quality of medicines all the way to the consumer is a key component of the global antimicrobial resistance action plan now beginning to be implemented around the world, a panel of experts said during the recent United Nations General Assembly in New York.
NEW YORK -- At a recent event on the margin of the United Nations General Assembly, a senior World Health Organization official gave an update on global efforts against substandard and falsified medicines in the context of the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). And a key issue is that often after arriving safely in the capitals, something happens just before quality-assured medicines reach the patient, contributing to AMR.
The Medicines Patent Pool today announced a new licence with Gilead Sciences for a medicine which in combination with others would offer a once-daily, single-tablet HIV treatment.
The World Intellectual Property Organization has a new head of Global Health, and the Global Challenges Division is hunting for its next director.
Today WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and Thomas Cueni, Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), signed an agreement establishing the Patent Information Initiative for Medicines, or “Pat-INFORMED,” during the General Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO taking place this week. IFPMA worked with Intellectual Property Watch to prepare a Q&A with Mr Gurry and Mr Cueni about this new initiative.
Innovation is vital for the development of medicines, but innovation without proper access to them is pointless, Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of World Trade Organization has said. Several other agency heads spoke at the same event, where World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed the importance of universal health coverage.
The 2017 Social Forum, an annual meeting convened by the Human Rights Council, is being held next week in Geneva, and will focus on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of the HIV epidemic and other communicable diseases and epidemics.