In attempting to address problems of access to medicines in developing countries, it is not productive to utilize any typology to limit the scope of diseases that are to be part of the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action’s focus for the next 7 years.
I’m not sure who has been sharing this on the list, but the very worst country in the negotiations, among the 190+ members of the WHO, is, without a doubt, Sweden. Sweden has been making it very difficult for Europe to take reasonable positions in the negotiations, and Sweden is consistently taking the most extreme positions in the negotiations among the European countries, and competing with Mexico for the most anti-consumer views in the room.
The IGWG Negotiations are coming to the end, and although it is not clear what the package the negotiators will deliver is, enough of the process has been seen to rate the performances of some of the actors.
Tomorrow morning (Friday the 9th), the IGWG finally takes up Element 5, the intellectual property text. These are the deletions to the text being requested by Mexico.
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ELEMENT 3
This would include:
building innovative capacity in science and technology and traditional medicine/genetic resources, in agreement with the legislation existing in the Parties on this issues;
rational health-orientated intellectual property management. (Mexico suggest delete)
Richard Kjeldgaard, a former Senior Counsellor in the Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and now employed by the U.S. based Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) performed his role as “bouncer” admirably today at a luncheon organized by the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
Boletín Fármacos has asked me to write a short summary of one of KEI’s projects. I chose to present a patent pool for medical technologies related to the prevention and treatment of cancer. Please find the article below. It is also available: http://www.boletinfarmacos.org/092007/ventana_abierta.asp
A Panel Discussion on Policy Approaches to Intellectual Property Enforcement and the Impact on Trade Agreements
Organized by the Property Rights Alliance, this event was hosted by the Intellectual Property Caucus and sponsored by Rep. Tom Feeney.
Date: 12:00-1:30pm October 4, 2007
Venue: Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC
Attendance: Congressional staff, industry representatives, other interested parties.
The following are selected cables from the US Department of State, obtained under the U.S. FOIA statutes, concerning patents and price negotiations on AIDS drugs. 2004 U.S. DoS Cable: GOB REACHES PRICING AGREEMENTS ON THREE MORE AIDS DRUGS – January… Continue Reading
Walking around the marbled corridors of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) during its 43rd General Assembly, one cannot help but feel a palpable sense of an Organization under siege. Heightened security detail, ostensibly for the protection of the institution and the assembled delegates, was referred by one insider as justification for WIPO maintaining the current levels for patent filing fees.
The outgoing General Assembly Chair, Enrique Manalo (Ambassador, Philippines) commenced the 43th session of the WIPO General Assembly at 10:23 AM (Central European Time). Ambassador Manalo highlighted the success of Development Agenda negotiations as a hallmark of his tenure as Chair over the course of 2 years.