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The latest thoughts from Medicines Law & Policy partners.

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The Pandemic Agreement is here

In December 2021, the member states of the World Health Organization decided “to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument...

Updated TRIPS Flexibilities Database

In January 2023, a number of cystic-fibrosis patient organisations asked the governments of Brazil, India, South Africa and Ukraine to invoke compulsory licensing and...

How not to solve a crisis: The European Commission’s Plan for Transferable Data Exclusivity...

Drug-resistant infections, sometimes called “superbugs,” killed an estimated 1.27 million people in 2019, a number set to rise to 50 million by 2050. It is...

Thanks to the European Commission, Biogen can extend Tecfidera monopoly for at least two...

According to an investigation by Follow the Money, a Dutch investigative journalism outlet, the European Commission restored the market exclusivity of Tecfidera, a multiple...

Medicines Law & Policy’s director, Ellen ’t Hoen, receives high Netherlands honour for her...

Ellen 't Hoen has been appointed Officer of the Order of Oranje-Nassau, a royal award which recognises those who merit particular appreciation from society...

Commission report on competition enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector

Guest author Jacquelyn D. Veraldi is Assistant Professor of European Law at the University of Groningen. Guest author Tais A. Ruiz Palacios is a...

Wrapping up 2023 with some noteworthy medicines, law and policy developments

Welcome to our 2023 end-of-the-year blog, our annual and highly-biased run-through of notable access to medicines events of the year that is about to...
INB co-chairs, Precious Matsoso from South Africa and Roland Driece from the Netherlands opening the session on 18 June

Seven recommendations for sharing intellectual property, know-how and technology – report of Global Expert...

Negotiators of a Pandemic Treaty should heed the recommendations, published 15 July in the BMJ Global Health, to design a fair global system for...

Dutch health insurance company Menzis takes AstraZeneca to court over patent evergreening

Today health insurance company Menzis announced  that it is taking the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to court over the pricing of Seroquel, a medicine...

WIPO and pharma industry launch global medicines patent database

On 25 September, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in collaboration with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) launched the Patent...