“This week, the medicines were not there”: What is at stake in the pandemic...
Earlier this week I listened to a testimony from a community worker at a maternity ward where HIV-positive women gave birth. 17 babies were...
Medicines Law & Policy responds to US Health and Human Services Department request for...
On 12 December 2023 the US Health and Human Services Department (HHS) posted a notice and request for comments on “the implications of access...
TRIPS, technology transfer and access to pandemic countermeasures: What the WHO Pandemic Treaty must...
The scrambling for access to Covid-19 vaccines by developing countries has reignited the debate on the WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)...
Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation meets AbbVie in court, looking to advance its pricing case
“The value of a human life is infinite, but unfortunately our healthcare budget is not,” said former Dutch Health Minister Bruno Bruins, quoted by...
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...
Are gene-editing therapies patentable? A WIPO side event investigates.
On 6 December, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) organised an interesting panel on the patentability of new gene- and cell-based medical therapies, as a side...
Pharmaceutical Pricing Hostages
Ireland seems to be the stage of some of the most bizarre pharmaceutical company behaviour these days. This month, the pharmaceutical company CSL Behring...
Thanks to the European Commission, Biogen can extend Tecfidera monopoly for at least two...
According to an investigation by Follow the Money, a Dutch investigative journalism outlet, the European Commission restored the market exclusivity of Tecfidera, a multiple...
Human Rights Watch: All governments should endorse the WHO C-TAP Solidarity Call to Action
As the race towards a Covid-19 vaccine continues – with 11 leading candidates in phase 3 clinical trials, 14 more in phase 2 and...
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...