In Poland, an Ambassador (and former George W Bush roommate) demolishes PhRMA’s 2009 Special 301 filing (Wikileaks cables)

From KEI staff review of Wikileaks cables (/wikileaks)

This cable signed by US Ambassador to Poland Victor H. Ashe provides a through and very tough critique of PhRMA’s submission to the 2009 Special 301 list. Ashe rejects every one of PhRMA’s main points, and explains why continually putting Poland on the Special 301 list is counter productive.

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KEI comments to UK Consultation on limitations and exceptions for persons with print disabilities under discussion at WIPO

The proposal for a WIPO treaty for persons who are blind or have other disabilities moved forward at the last SCCR meeting in June 2011, when a wide collection of high income and Latin American countries endorsed a joint paper that could serve as a basis for a diplomatic conference. The fact that Brazil, the US and the EU were among the countries endorsing the paper was very significant.

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Cable: US Government collaboration with drug companies to lobby the Finnish Parliament on drug pricing legislation

This July 9, 2008 cable concerns the collaboration between the US government and the pharmaceutical industry to lobby Finland on the pricing of pharmaceutical drugs. The cable was written by Michael A Butler, then the Deputy Chief of Mission in Helsinki, and is worth a read. Among other things, the cable says :

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US wary of WIPO initiative to host meeting on avian influenza and intellectual property rights (2005)

On 2 November 2005, Ambassador Kevin Moley wrote the following entitled, “NOT A GOOD IDEA – WIPO PROPOSAL ON AVIAN INFLUENZA AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS” after meeting with Rita Hayes, Deputy Director General WIPO, to discuss a proposed WIPO-hosted meeting of a high-level advisory group for intellectual property and avian flu.

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Ambassador Clifford Sobel (photo from Wikimedia)

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New Zealand measures to prevent parallel trade in medicine from NZ to US

Wikileaks has published 28 cables, dated July 13, 2004 to February 9, 2010, from the US Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand that mention pharmaceuticals (See list here: /node/1231)

One of the cables discusses in detail the efforts of the New Zealand government to prevent pharmaceutical products that are sold in New Zealand from being parallel traded into the U.S. market. There are several interesting points made in the cable. Here are a few highlights:

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Wikileaks cables on the US opposition to Philippines legislation on affordable medicines

From KEI staff review of Wikileaks cables (/wikileaks)

From September 19, 2005 to January 15, 2010, the US Department of State sent dozens of cables from Manila reporting on disputes in the Philippines regarding IPR and the pricing of pharmaceutical drugs. Much of the U.S. advocacy in the Philippines was done in close cooperation with Pfizer.

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Implementing the Jordan FTA rules on exclusive rights in regulatory test data

September 2, 2011
From KEI staff review of Wikileaks cables (/wikileaks)

On August 30, 2011, Wikileaks published a December 19, 2005 cable written by Daniel Rubinstein. The cable illustrates the degree to which the U.S. Department of State monitors the implementation of the Jordan-US FTA agreement, as regards disputes over rules on data exclusivity.

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2008 May 14 Cable: Poland wants to cap drug cost effectiveness at 3x GDP/pop. Pfizer wants 6x

September 3, 2011 From KEI staff review of Wikileaks cables (/wikileaks) On May 14, 2008, The US Embassy in Warsaw sent a cable that discussed additions to the list of pharmaceutical products reimbursed by the government. A few highlights from… Continue Reading