The Most Common Misunderstanding about Compulsory Licensing

The belief that a country can only use compulsory licensing in cases of public health emergencies is a myth that has proven difficult to...

World Health Organization Members ask for more time to solve difficult negotiations on access...

World Health Organization member states will propose to continue negotiations on a critical annex to the Pandemic Agreement, after being unable to bridge key...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

World Trade Organization Members Embark on Review of the TRIPS Agreement

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council will meet on 10-11 July. On the agenda is the review...

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...

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...

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...