New reports offer evidence for extending the WTO Decision on TRIPS to Covid-19 therapeutics...

In February 2024, the 13th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference will take place. WTO Members are expected to decide whether to extend the...

Time for new pharmaceutical-innovation models

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable on earth, expected to be worth $1.4 trillion by the end of 2020. Last year,...

The Expanding Reach of the European Patent Office. Good for Health?

The European Patent Office (EPO) is tasked with the examination of patent applications and the granting of patents when these applications meet the patentability...

The Italian Exception – A personalised approach to accessing high-priced patented medicines

At the end of March 2017, the Italian Minister of Health Beatrice Lorenzin has authorised the importation of generic medicines. She did this with...

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...

Vaccine knowledge needs to be a global public good: Remarks to the World Trade...

Ellen ‘t Hoen, Medicines Law & Policy, at the World Trade Organization-World Health Organization High-Level Dialogue on Expanding COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing to Promote Equitable...

Medicines Law & Policy Intervention at the WHO Pandemic Accord Negotiations

This statement was delivered on 19 February at the World Health Organization in Geneva, on the occasion of the 8th Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to...

Medicines Patent Pool signs first Covid-19 licence agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme. Others...

The Medicines Patent Pool, a UN-backed organisation whose mission is to expand access to essential medicines around the world, today announced its first agreement...

What is the ‘know-how gap’ problem and how might it impact scaling up production...

This entire article is also available as a PDF by clicking here. 1. Introduction. How relevant are concerns about intellectual property rights causing problems for...

Price, profit and the Covid-19 health technology pool: The example of remdesivir

We cannot yet know the precise trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic, nor which therapies or vaccines will eventually prove most effective in its treatment...