I woke up this morning to read an article by Karol Sikora, a Dean at the University of Buckingham Medical School, about high cancer drug prices.* This quote caught my eye.
quote: “So cancer drug rationing is inevitable in all health economies – rich and poor alike. My solution is to have age limits for expensive therapies. Oncologists have been doing this covertly for the last two decades – it’s now time to be explicit.”
The following are videos from TACD’s June 25, 2014 side event on intellectual property and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement. Continue Reading
On 11 June 2014, India delivered the following statement at the WTO TRIPS Council on on non-violation and situation complaints in response to the US proposal (IP/C/W/599) tabled on 10 June 2014.
NV&S ComplaintsWTO TRIPS Council (June 2014): EU on the contribution of IP to facilitate the transfer of environmentally rational technology
On Wednesday, 11 June 2014, the European Union delivered the following statement on the “Contribution of IP to facilitate the transfer of environmentally rational technology technology.’
EU intervention under point 11. Of the TRIPS Council Agenda
“Contribution of IP to facilitate the transfer of environmentally rational technology”TTIP: Anti-Transparency Rules laid out in USTR letter to DG-Trade
KEI has obtained the terms of reference (TOR) for the confidentiality of the negotiating texts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Agreement. The TOR are laid out in a two-page letter from US Chief Negotiator Dan Mullaney to EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero which is available here. The letter was obtained through a FOIA request filed by KEI with the USTR on May 19, 2014.
WTO TRIPS Council (June 2014) – India’s intervention on Intellectual Property and Innovation: Innovation Incubators
On Wednesday, 11 June 2014, India delivered a statement at the WTO TRIPS Council on”Intellectual Property and Innovation: Innovation Incubators”; Chinese Taipei (WTO speak for Taiwan) and the United States proposed this agenda item.
We thank the delegations of the United States and Chinese Taipei for tabling an agenda item on “Intellectual Property and Innovation: Innovation Incubators ” which we understand is a standalone item.WIPO: Africa Group Statement on the Formal Integration of PPH system to PCT
WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Working Group is meeting from 10 June 2014 to 13 June 2014. Among the hot topics of discussion is a paper tabled by the United Kingdom and the United States on Formal Integration of the Patent Prosecution Highway into the PCT. The basic ask of the UK/US proposal (PCT/WG/7/21) is to amend the regulations of WIPO’s PCT Regulations and Administrative Instructions to formally integrate the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) into the PCT system.
WTO TRIPS Council (June 2014): USTR submission on Non-Violation Complaints Under the TRIPS Agreement
On 10 June 2014, the United States tabled a paper (IP/C/W/599) to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) TRIPS Council on “Non-Violation Complaints Under the TRIPS Agreement.” This paper is expected to be discussed at the TRIPS Council today (11 June 2014) under agenda item 7 on “Non-Violation and Situation Complaints.”
As previously mentioned in our February 2014 piece,
World Health Assembly (WHA 67) agrees to create pooled R&D fund, endorses delinkage of R&D costs from product prices
Today the World Health Assembly (WHA) reached consensus on a “decision”, WHA67(15), regarding the Consultative Expert Working Group (CEWG) on Research and Development. Continue Reading
WHA67: Statement of South Africa on behalf of the African Region on Access to Essential Medicines
On Friday, 23 May 2014, the World Health Assembly is currently discussing access to essential medicines in the context of resolution EB134.R16, tabled China in January 2014. The following statement was delivered by South Africa on behalf of the 47 members of the African region. South Africa highlighted the point that “vaccines and anti-cancer drugs remain out of reach of millions of people in both developed and developing countries.”