Why The Request By Least Developed Countries For An Extension Of The Transitional Period...
On 24 February 2015 Bangladesh on behalf of the 34 Least Developed Country members (LDCs) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) submitted a request...
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...
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...
How patents, data exclusivity and SPCs interact to extend market exclusivity of medicines: the...
Patents usually confer 20-year exclusive rights on inventions. Data exclusivity laws confer, depending on the country, 5 to 10 years’ exclusive rights over safety...
Trump Administration poses an unprecedented threat to life-saving health programmesÂ
On his first day in office, US President Trump issued several executive orders, one of which concerns US foreign aid. This order included a...
The Waiver that Wasn’t: Is the pharma lobby responsible?
Systemic lobbying pressure from pharmaceutical companies – allegedly attached to threats to withdraw investments – may have been responsible for the watering down of...
The Expanding Reach of the European Patent Office. Good for Health?
The European Patent Office (EPO) is tasked with the examination of patent applications and the granting of patents when these applications meet the patentability...
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...
MSF’s Access Campaign is an invaluable actor in global health; shutting it down is...
On 20 June, STAT News reported that Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is closing down their Access Campaign, effective as of 31 December 2024. It...
Fair Medicines Pricing requires addressing monopolies and increasing transparency in pharmaceutical markets
The 4th WHO Fair Pricing Forum took place from 6 - 8 February 2024. Ellen 't Hoen spoke at the opening plenary. Below are...