Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Health Organization is working to learn from the fast response on research and development for Ebola that led to effective treatments in a short time. It hopes that this changes the way R&D for emergency vaccines is done forever.
The annual World Health Assembly opens next week with a focus on antimicrobial resistance, the Ebola outbreak, and research and development. Other subject of interests will be World Health Organization engagement with outside stakeholders, such as non-governmental organisations and the private sector, and a potential pooled fund for research and development for neglected diseases.
The World Health Organization today published its updated Model List of Essential Medicines, including high-priced new treatments for hepatitis C, cancers and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) that were quickly applauded by the public health advocacy community.
the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) provided its recommendations on how to slow down antimicrobial resistance and boost antibiotic research and development. In addition, the association organised a forum on the subject today.
The World Health Organization released a report today on countries’ response to the global declining effect of antibiotics on bacteria and microbes, heightened by overuse or misuse of those products. Next month the World Health Assembly will consider a draft global action plan to fight the problem, which includes suggestions for sustainable investment in the area such as de-linking research from price and sales, as well as equitable access to new products.
A newly announced project will create an open, online database of information about the clinical research trials worldwide. The initiative, called Open Trials, will be directed by Ben Goldacre, an internationally known author (“Bad Science”) and advocated for clinical transparency.…
The World Health Organization is reviewing its list of essential medicines this week. Over 70 candidate medicines are expected to be assessed by an Expert Committee. Some of those medicines are under patent and highly priced, which poses an accessibility challenge.
The World Health Organization has announced that its Global Medicines Safety Database is now open to the general public. The database named VigiAccess can now be accessed on any computer or smartphone in the world.
The World Health Organization today issued a call for disclosure of results from clinical trials for medical products, no matter what the results of the trials were. And a variety of events and publications are addressing medicines access today.
The World Health Organization has issued a guidance document on the design of bioequivalence studies for a leading hepatitis C medicine. Generic drug companies seeking prequalification by the WHO need to demonstrate that their generic version is equivalent to the originator drug.
On 5 March, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in collaboration with Oxford University’s Global Economic Governance Programme (GEG) hosted an event in Geneva to discuss challenges and issues in intellectual property governance.
An initiative spearheaded by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to ensure equitable access to medicines in particular in middle-income countries now has a dedicated webpage publishing the terms of reference of the initiative. Also available is the list of high-level participants who attended the first meeting of the initiative held last week.