On Thursday, 30 April 2015, KEI will host the first talk in a series of seminars on drug pricing. The seminars will take place via video conference (hosted by KEI), and participation is welcome either by attending the presentation at KEI’s Washington, DC offices, or to the extent we are able, joining the digital conference.
On March 18, 2015, KEI, KEI Europe, and Essential Inventions submitted proposals for global voluntary licences for all patents necessary for hepatitis C (HCV) medicines to five drug companies — AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Janssen, and Merck.
On 16 December 2014 and 18 December 2014, the World Trade Organization (WTO) undertook a trade policy review of the United States of America. All members of the WTO are subject to review under the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). Continue Reading
On Tuesday February 3, 2015, the final day of the 136th WHO Executive Board meeting, the EB passed a draft decision on the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property (GSPoA). The draft decision recommends to the WHA that the GSPOA be extended until 2022. Continue Reading
Another matter considered during the Friday, January 30th session of the WHO Executive Board was the “Follow-up of the report on the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research Development-Financing and Coordination.” In addition to the general report on the CEWG, the EB also considered the Director General’s report on the CEWG “Health research and development demonstration projects.”
On Friday, January 30th, the WHO Executive Board discussed the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property (GSPA). The discussion covered several documents in relation to the GSPoA, including:
During Tuesday’s session of the WHO Executive Board, the board considered a proposal from Argentina on the table for a “Framework of Engagement with Non-state Actors.” Many states, both Board members and non-Executive Board member states, contributed to the discussion, citing the issue as a critical reform issue for the WHO. While a number of states took issue with some of the specifics of the draft proposal, for example that at current time all types of non-state actors were lumped together (i.e. Continue Reading
On Sunday January 25, 2015, the WHO Executive Board unanimously approved the resolution, “Ebola: Ending the current outbreak, strengthening global preparedness, and ensuring WHO capacity to prepare for and respond to future large-scale outbreaks and emergencies with health consequences.” Though unanimous in the end, negotiations for the resolution took 4 days, the Friday session lasting until 5:45am on Saturday morning.
During the WIPO 2014 General Assembly’s discussions of patents and health in the context of the work of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patent (SCP), the Obama Administration embraced an aggressive position against WIPO technical assistance on the use of patent limitations and exceptions.
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