9 November 2016 – WTO TRIPS Council – WHO’s intervention on the Report of the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

On Wednesday, 9 November 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) delivered the following statement at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) TRIPS Council’s discussions of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines.

COUNCIL FOR TRIPS

8-9 NOVEMBER 2016

WHO STATEMENT

13. THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL’S HIGH LEVEL PANEL REPORT ON ACCESS TO MEDICINES

Thank you very much for giving WHO the opportunity to share our feedback on the Report of the High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines.

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9 November 2016 – WTO TRIPS Council – Brazil’s intervention on the Report of the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

On 9 November 2016, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) TRIPS Council held discussions on the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines (UN HLP). These timely WTO discussions on the UN HLP germinated from a 27 October 2016 request by Brazil, China, India and South Africa requesting the WTO Secretariat to place a dedicated agenda item for consideration at the 8-9 November 2016 session of the TRIPS Council entitled “the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines.”

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WTO TRIPS Council – Brazil, China, India and South Africa request discussion of the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

On Thursday, 27 October 2016, Brazil, China, India and South Africa submitted a communication (IP/C/W/619) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) requesting the WTO Secretariat to “place a dedicated agenda item for consideration at the 8-9 November 2016 session of the TRIPS Council entitled “the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines.” In the WTO submission, Brazil, China, India and South Africa enclosed the entire Final Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Continue Reading

2016: Kite Pharma, KEI Comments on NIH Proposed Exclusive License for Cancer Treatment

Today, KEI submitted comments to the Notice published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2016, entitled “Prospective Grant of Exclusive Patent License: Development of Anti-CD70 Chimeric Antigen Receptors for the Treatment of CD70 Expressing Cancers.” KEI’s comments addressed issues with the NIH’s processes for granting exclusive licenses, and transparency in those licenses, resulting data, trials, pricing, and revenue.
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Kite Pharma Press Releases & News Stories Related to Relationship with National Cancer Institute

Kite Pharma is a California-based biopharmaceutical company working on various types of cell therapies for the treatment of cancer, in a bid to become the first pharmaceutical firm to gain successful FDA approval for this new class of cancer treatment.

Kite closely collaborates with the National Cancer Institute, which conducted significant early research into the forms of cell therapies that Kite is seeking to commercialize. NCI conducts clinical trials under Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with Kite, and additionally has granted exclusive licenses on over a dozen patents to Kite on the same technologies.
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WIPO General Assembly 2016: Opening Statement of Knowledge Ecology International

On October 4th, 2016, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered this opening statement on the occasion of the Fifty-Sixth Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).


KEI General Statement – WIPO General Assembly – 2016

October 4th, 2016

Thank you Chair for providing Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) the opportunity to speak today.

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National Association of Manufacturers told USTR the EU position on LDC extension made a mockery of international trading system

On September 10, 2015, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), wrote to USTR expressing alarm at the European Union support of an indefinite extension of a WTO waiver of obligations to grant patents on pharmaceuticals for UN defined least developed countries (LDCs). In 2015, there were 954 million persons living in LDCs, with a per capita income of $964, according to the World Bank. The EU had aligned itself with health advocates trying to protect the bottom billion access to life saving medicines.

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Summary of Report of United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

On September 14, 2016, the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines released its report, in which they had a mandate to “review and assess proposals and recommend solutions for remedying the policy incoherence between the justifiable rights of inventors, international human rights law, trade rules and public health in the context of health technologies.”[1]

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