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...
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...
EU Review of Pharmaceutical Incentives: Recommendations for Change
In 2016, the European Council decided it was time for a review of the incentives that the EU provides to companies that develop new...
European Commission Publishes Expert Panel’s Recommendations on High Drug Prices
This month the European Commission published Innovative Payment Models for High-Cost Innovative Medicines, a report of the Expert Panel on effective ways of investing...
Access to medicines amendment of the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Hype or hope?
On 30 January 2017 the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced the first ever amendment to the TRIPS Agreement under the headline WTO members welcome...
Cystic Fibrosis Medicines Wars in Europe
Monday 4 February, the UK parliament will debate the issuing of a compulsory licence by the government, called ‘Crown use’, for the cystic fibrosis...
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...
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...
FDA approval of injectable lenacapavir for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) opens the road to ending...
On 18th June 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of long-acting antiretroviral medicine lenacapavir (LEN-LA), for the prevention of...
WHO’s Essential Medicines Committee takes aim at rising prices, adds new treatments for cancer...
On 1 October, the World Health Organization published its latest Model List of Essential Medicines (EML) and Essential Medicines for Children (EMLc). Updated roughly...