Joint letter to Dr. Fauci at NIAID, regarding the geographic scope of RNAceuticals HIV patent license, asks that exclusivity not extend to countries with low and moderate incomes

Below is a letter from several individuals and groups, asking that NIAID not grant exclusive rights in a HIV patent license for South Africa, India and other low income countries. (PDF version here) The license is to RNAceuticals, a firm… Continue Reading →

WTO TRIPS Council (July 2020): South Africa’s submission on IP and the Public Interest – Beyond Access to Medicines and Medical Technologies towards a more Holistic Approach to TRIPS Flexibilities

On Friday, 17 July 2020, South Africa submitted a paper to the World Trade Organization (WTO) TRIPS Council entitled, Intellectual Property and the Public Interest: Beyond Access to Medicines and Medical Technologies Towards a More Holistic Approach To TRIPS Flexibilities.… Continue Reading →

KEI receives seven new contracts for COVID 19 research from BARDA and DOD, including five using “Other Transactions Authority” that weaken or eliminate Bayh-Dole and FAR Safeguards

KEI has a number of outstanding requests under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for contracts related to biomedical innovations to control or treat the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, June 25, and Friday, June 26, we received a… Continue Reading →

Senate Foreign Relations Committee questions State Department, USAID, and HHS on COVID-19 and U.S. International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response

On Thursday, 18 June 2020, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee convened a hearing on COVID-19 and U.S. International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response. The witnesses called to provide testimony included: 1) James L. Richardson, Director, Office of Foreign Assistance, U.S.… Continue Reading →

EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan issues statement on European Union compulsory licensing in context of COVID-19, makes important statement about TRIPS Article 31bis

On 14 May 2020, Bernd Lange, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) wrote a letter to Phil Hogan (Commissioner for Trade, European Commission) on the “commercial aspects of intellectual property rights for medical products in the… Continue Reading →

Patents related to PX-UV, an R2-D2 look-alike robot that may disinfect public spaces from SARS-CoV-2

Texas-based company Xenex Disinfection Services, a manufacturer of robots that reportedly removes the SARS-CoV-2 virus from public spaces, has been making news lately. One of their robots, which uses ultraviolet lights to kill viruses and bacteria in surfaces and look… Continue Reading →

14 May 2020 – The WHO Covid-19 Technology Pool: The solution to ensure global access to Covid-19 health technologies

Livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNMpuQfH088 On 14 May 2020, Health Action International, Knowledge Ecology International, Medicines Law & Policy, Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation, and Wemos will convene a briefing entitled: “The WHO Covid-19 Technology Pool: The solution to ensure global access to Covid-19… Continue Reading →