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...
WHO Fair Pricing Forum: Watching for Drug Industry Accountability
by Katrina Perehudoff and Jennifer Sellin
Expensive medicines are a ubiquitous challenge from which no government is immune. Excessive price hikes are an urgent human...
Modifier la législation européenne pour mettre en œuvre la licence d’office en France
Selon le Dr Thierry Philip, Président de l’institut Curie, la hausse des prix des nouveaux traitements contre le cancer « est devenue intenable. »
L’augmentation croissante du prix...
Decision on intellectual property waiver over Covid technology on hold till 2021; what are...
Note: This article was edited on 19 December to include a statement from the EU supporting sharing of intellectual property, technology, and know-how transfer.
The...
Some Surprises in the European Commission’s New Intellectual Property Strategy
The European Commission's new intellectual property (IP) strategy is out and it holds a number of surprises for access to medicines. After restating the...
Something is going terribly wrong with the EU Compulsory Licensing Regulation
This week the European Parliament will vote on amendments to the Commission’s proposed regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on compulsory licensing...
The EU proposed Covid waivers of certain TRIPS rules are mostly meaningless
Since October 2020, discussions have been ongoing at the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council about a waiver of...
The People vs. AbbVie
Today, 9 May 2025, is an important day in court for the Dutch Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation (PAF). In February 2023, PAF started a court...
Dutch Court Orders AstraZeneca to Pay Damages in Patent Evergreening Case
Today the Dutch court made a long-awaited ruling in the patent evergreening case of health insurance company Menzis versus AstraZeneca. It found that AstraZeneca...
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...