On February 25, 2021, the intellectual property office in Ecuador granted a compulsory license over a patent directed to the raltegravir active ingredient. Raltegravir, commonly marketed under the brand name Isentress, is used to treat HIV infections. The licensed patent… Continue Reading
On March 1, 2021, KEI obtained a copy of the binding term sheet between Pfizer/BioNTech and the Dominican Republic for the supply of their COVID-19 vaccine in the country. The document, requested via the freedom of information law in the… Continue Reading
On March 1, 2021, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) sent a letter to Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the new Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the WTO’s COVID-19 response. In the letter, KEI urged Dr. Ngozi to fully step into… Continue Reading
On 23 February 2021, South Africa delivered two detailed statements at the WTO TRIPS Council’s most recent deliberations on a waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19 (IP/C/W/669). South Africa did… Continue Reading
New: Biden White House Executive Order opposes change in Bayh-Dole March-In regulations. (KEI has an email list to discuss this issue here: http://lists.keionline.org/mailman/listinfo/bayh-dole-regulations_lists.keionline.org) The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published on January 4, 2021, a… Continue Reading
Based on press releases and additional publicly-available information, KEI is building a dataset with a non-exhaustive list of deals that involve technology transfer and outsourcing of COVID-19 vaccines manufacturing. As of February 19, 2021, the dataset includes observations for over… Continue Reading
On Monday, 15 February 2021, the World Trade Organization’s General Council, “agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization’s seventh Director-General” (Source: History is made: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala chosen as Director-General, 15 February 2021). Dr Ngozi is… Continue Reading
(More on the USTR Special 301. link) Attached are links to several of the industry submissions for the 2021 USTR Special 301 list. The Docket: USTR-2020-0041 PhRMA 2021 Special 301 Review Comment, and Correction to Comment BIO 2021 Special 301… Continue Reading
On February 9, 2021, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regarding the “Prospective Grant of an Exclusive Patent License: Development and Commercialization of Cell Therapies for Cancer” to Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (Ziopharm). The… Continue Reading
On Tuesday February 9, 2021, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regarding the “Prospective Grant of an Exclusive Patent License: Development and Commercialization of Certain Fusion Proteins and Their Use for the Treatment… Continue Reading