At the 41st session (24 June 2019 – 12 July 2019) of the Human Rights Council, a bloc of countries known as the the Core Group (Brazil, China, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand) have circulated a resolution… Continue Reading
On Monday, 24 June 2019, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered this opening statement at WIPO’s 30th Session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP). The Committee elected a new chair, Sarah Whitehead, United Kingdom of Great Britain… Continue Reading
Zolgensma, Novartis’s new $2.1 million gene therapy for children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is a remarkable breakthrough with a steep price tag: the cost per child is $2.125 million. The treatment was developed using research funded by the National… Continue Reading
June 14, 2019 Zolgensma, the Novartis brand name for the new $2.1 million gene therapy for treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), appears to be a remarkable medical breakthrough treatment. It is also, like all of the new cell- and… Continue Reading
Today the World Health Assembly (WHA) approved A72/A/CONF./2 Rev.1 as a resolution, titled “Improving the transparency of markets for medicines, vaccines, and other health products.” Link to the resolution: http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA72/A72_ACONF2Rev1-en.pdf When the text was made available, I sent out a… Continue Reading
An earler version of this was posted to ip-health. —– As the #TransparencyResolution finally moves onto the #WHA72 agenda, I would like to offer a few comments on the process. We have copies of six versions of the negotiating text,… Continue Reading
See https://keionline.org/transparency for links to research materials and blogs. Background Memo on Transparency Norms 2019. February 18. Note prepared for WHA negotiations on transparency resolution Examples of SEC disclosures Negotiating texts for WHA 72, on transparency. February 1, 2019. Draft… Continue Reading
On Thursday May 23, 2019, KEI, Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and 44 more organizations and 10 individuals released an open letter to delegates of the 72nd World Health Assembly urging them to support a strong resolution on transparency… Continue Reading
On Wednesday May 22, 2019, KEI delivered the following intervention at the 72nd World Health Assembly for the agenda item, “11.5 – Universal Health Coverage.” A PDF version is available here. KEI Statement – WHA72 11.5 – Universal Health Coverage… Continue Reading