Faced with unreasonable medicines prices, the Netherlands introduces pharmacy exemption in patent law.
On 1 February 2019, article 53(3), second sentence of the Dutch Patent Act 1995 came into force introducing a patent exemption for the preparation...
“This week, the medicines were not there”: What is at stake in the pandemic...
Earlier this week I listened to a testimony from a community worker at a maternity ward where HIV-positive women gave birth. 17 babies were...
The European Commission’s proposal on a new EU-wide compulsory licensing regime
Guest author Olga Gurgula is a Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at Brunel Law School, Brunel University London
A recent international health emergency, the...
Corbyn’s Compulsory Licenses. Will they work?
On 24 September, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK Labour party, announced a series of measures to bring medicines pricing in check and to...
The new EU compulsory licensing regime needs to allow the export of medicines
Guest author Olga Gurgula is a Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at Brunel Law School, Brunel University London.
A war-weary Ukraine critically depends on the support of...
Dutch Minister of Health writes open letter to pharma, threatens to name and shame
"Dear Pharma," writes the Dutch Minister of Health, Bruno Bruins in an open letter in the daily newspaper the Volkskrant, "Last week two messages jumped...
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...
Wrapping up 2025: A tumultuous year for global public health law & policy
The end of 2025, a tumultuous year for global public health, is here, and it’s time for the usually highly biased Medicines Law &...
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...
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...