Blog

The latest thoughts from Medicines Law & Policy partners.

“Mutually agreed terms and conditions,” says it all.

On 4 March, Politico reported that the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) is expressing doubt that the Pandemic Agreement...
Generic lumacaftor/ivacaftor

Cystic Fibrosis Buyers Club Shows the UK Government The Way

The move by a group of parents of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) to set up a buyers club to gain access to treatments...

Uganda tells ARIPO: No more patents for pharmaceuticals

Uganda has notified the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) that pharmaceutical inventions are not eligible for patentability in the country, Managing IP reported. With...

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...

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...

Generic versions of a lifesaving cystic fibrosis treatment will save patients $360,000 a year...

Generic versions of a cystic fibrosis treatment will now be available at $6,375 per child, per year under a new scheme – offering hope...

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)...

Gilead’s sofosbuvir patent in India – options for global access to new hepatitis C...

Earlier this month the US pharmaceutical company Gilead obtained a patent in India for sofosbuvir, part of a treatment of hepatitis C that became...

Covid-19 and the comeback of compulsory licensing

The Covid-19 outbreak raises many questions, including some we can answer using experiences gained in previous disease outbreaks. Here is one: how to deal...

Wrapping Up 2017 – some noteworthy medicines law and policy events.

2017 was a significant year for access to medicines and other medicines policy related events. Here are a few highlights of the last 12...