WTO Members discuss proposal to suspend certain intellectual property protection during the Covid-19 crisis

An earlier version of this comment was published by The Wire on 13 October 2020. On 2 October, India and South Africa sent a proposal...

Commission report on competition enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector

Guest author Jacquelyn D. Veraldi is Assistant Professor of European Law at the University of Groningen. Guest author Tais A. Ruiz Palacios is a...

World Trade Organization Members Embark on Review of the TRIPS Agreement

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council will meet on 10-11 July. On the agenda is the review...

Wrapping up 2020 with some noteworthy medicines, law and policy events

Wrapping up the year 2020 can’t happen soon enough. This year, one way or the other, most people on the planet have been affected...

“Mutually agreed terms and conditions,” says it all.

On 4 March, Politico reported that the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) is expressing doubt that the Pandemic Agreement...

The € 7.4 billion for Covid-19 product and vaccine development needs a few strings...

On 4 May 2020, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hosted the Coronavirus Global Response conference, an on-line pledging event to accelerate the...

New Database Documents the Power of TRIPS Flexibilities

Medicines Law & Policy has published an on-line database of instances of the use of TRIPS flexibilities in public health contexts, titled the TRIPS...

The European Commission says Covid-19 vaccines should be global public goods, but do their...

The European Commission has entered into advance purchase agreements (APAs) for Covid-19 vaccines with six pharmaceutical companies and is concluding negotiations with two companies....

Brazil’s Federal Court Reviews Medicines Mailbox Patents

This week the media reported that the Brazilian federal court removed the patent protection for eculizumab, sold under the brand name Soliris by Alexion...

Remdesivir developed country price announced

On 29, June 2020 Gilead announced its global price for developed countries for remdesivir, a medicine that has shown some effect in the treatment...