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...

“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...

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...

Strong call for transparency on medicine prices, cost of R&D at WHO Fair Pricing...

“Medical innovation has little social value if most people cannot access its benefits…. this is a global human rights issue,” said Mariângela Simão, Assistant...

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...

Chile’s Technology and Knowledge Transfer Bill passes Congress with important commitments on socially responsible...

On 9 June, the Chilean Congress approved a Technology and Knowledge Transfer bill (Ley de Transferencia de Tecnología y Conocimiento) that makes important strides...

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)...

Advanced Purchase Agreements for Covid-19 Vaccines: Do they ensure Global Public Good?

Advanced Purchase Agreements (APAs) were part of a strategy to provide upfront financing for Covid-19 vaccines and to accelerate their development and availability. Since...

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...

Medicines price transparency: Ground still left to cover

Parts of this blog were previously published in the Lancet Regional Health Europe Secret medicines prices are hotly debated as European health systems struggle to...