Category Health & IP

A Comprehensive And Fair Solution To The Price Of Medicines

WHO's Marie-Paule Kieny writes: Amid public outcry, political battles and media articles, no one seems to understand how, exactly, medicines prices are set. For years, pharmaceutical research companies have cited the large investment of time and resources that go into bringing a drug to market. More recently, they argue that their medicines are actually saving money by preventing expensive medical interventions like surgery and hospitalization.

But whatever the argument used, the price setting mechanisms for commodities that are inextricably linked to people’s health and survival must be made more transparent so that we can, as a global community, devise effective solutions.

WHO Names New Head Of Health Emergencies

The World Health Organization has named veteran health crisis expert Peter Salama of Australia the next head of the Health Emergencies Programme, a high-profile position for the UN agency's leadership against outbreaks and disasters.

WIPO Patent Law Committee Undertakes Many Issues This Week

The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) is meeting this week. Among the possible agenda items: updates to the international patent system, exceptions and limitations to patents, quality of patents, patents and health, confidentiality of client-patent advisor communications, and technology transfer. A recent developed country proposal relates to increased work-sharing among patent offices. Also on the table this week is a new proposal to study the assessment of inventive step by patent practitioners.

European Council Approves First-Ever Analysis Of Drug Prices With Look At IP Rights

The 28 European Union governments today gave final approval to a first-ever plan to analyse medicines competition in Europe, with reference to drug prices, generics and biosimilars, and intellectual property rights. The final version was watered down after what sources said was heavy industry lobbying, compared to a leaked version published in Intellectual Property Watch two weeks ago, but still retains some strong provisions regarding pricing and competition.

Panels Brainstorm Ideas On Innovation And Drug Access

The quest of balance between encouraging medical innovation and the imperative of broad access to medicines has so far been elusive. Two Harvard University programmes jointly organised a workshop this week with the aim of encouraging a conversation between global health actors and see if some "outside the box" thinking is possible.

UN Development Agency Issues Guidelines For Pharmaceutical Patent Examiners

A new set of guidelines for pharmaceutical patent examination has been published by the United Nations Development Programme that seek to help reduce poor quality patents and ensure efficient market entry of generic products. The guidelines, written by a well-known advocate of access to medicines, aim at advising patent examiners in assessing the patentability requirements of applications relating to pharmaceutical products and processes.