Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Health Organization today issued its strategic response framework and joint operations and research plan, which lays out a strategy until June, to investigate and respond to the medical complications linked to the spreading Zika virus.
Priorities for the pharmaceutical industry in 2016 are antimicrobial resistance and the quest for new antibiotics, the strengthening of regulatory systems to facilitate access to drugs, and work on non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and cancer, according to the head of an international pharmaceutical industry group.
The World Intellectual Property Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, was unique among Geneva-based UN agencies for offering views at both recent meetings of the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines held in Geneva and New York this month. Now WIPO has come under criticism from public health advocates for the views it gave.
Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said today that two “highly effective” vaccines against Ebola have been developed over the course of 15 months in Russia. The combined vaccine GamEvac-Combi was presented during a briefing, with the two scientists who developed it, who own the intellectual property rights on the vaccines in Russia.
The United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines has announced that the deadline for the submission of stakeholders’ contributions has been extended to 28 February 2016. The panel also lifted restrictions on the number of contributions authors can submit.
In an update on research and development against the Zika virus, the World Health Organization today said several companies are working on diagnostic tools, and two candidate vaccines are being considered. Discussions are ongoing with countries to encourage sharing of samples of the virus with the WHO, and leading organisations and scientific journals signed a declaration yesterday on the sharing of data for public health emergencies.
The lack of preparedness to counter the effects of Zika virus follows a familiar script - a virus known since 1947, but one that has no currently available vaccine or treatments, like many neglected tropical diseases. This case could be illustrative of the wider struggle to finance investments into neglected diseases, but may tell a different story given its rarity of occurrence. It also may demonstrate how the World Health Organization is re-emerging as the global leader on response to outbreaks.
World Health Organization members are expected to meet this spring to assess progress and discuss potential solutions to the lack of financing for research and development for diseases affecting primarily developing countries. The WHO Executive Board last week discussed and noted a report by the WHO secretariat for the preparation of the open-ended meeting. The exact date of the meeting is not certain, according to WHO officials, but would likely be in March or April.
World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan submitted a report to last week’s Executive Board meeting detailing progress made in establishing a framework for the implementation of a global action plan for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs – like obesity, cancer, diabetes). The global action plan is to be officially implemented after the United Nations General Assembly comprehensive review of the prevention and control of NCDs in 2018, designed to eventually reduce premature mortality from NCDs by a third in 2030 in accordance with the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
There is an increasing shortage of medicines in the world, in particular in developing countries, but not only there, World Health Organization members said in last week’s Executive Board meeting. Discussions are ongoing on potential solutions and the agenda item referring to the issue was left open, to be brought to the World Health Assembly in May.