Today we received news from Nina Mahmud that her father-in-law, Fathi Helmi Aboseda, has passed away in Egypt. Mr. Aboseda was suffering from liver cancer. Earlier this year, Nina Mahmud had contacted Bayer and KEI asking for help in finding affordable copies of sorafenib, a drug for liver and kidney cancer sold by Bayer under the trade name Nexavar, a drug that was extending and improving the quality of his life. The price of Nexavar in Egypt was $900 per week, and Mr. Aboseda had used his entire life savings to buy the drug.
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On Monday, 22 September 2014, Bangladesh delivered the following statement on behalf of the Asia Pacific Group. Here below is the Group’s position on WIPO’s normative work including copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives, copyright limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and persons with other disabilities, the proposed Design Law Treaty, the proposed broadcasting treaty and proposed instruments for the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.
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A long standing parlor game for WIPO insiders and observers during the summer of 2014 involved guessing the composition of WIPO’s new Senior Management Team (the team of deputy director generals and assistant director generals who form WIPO’s cabinet). On 16 September 2014, the WIPO secretariat laid this to rest by revealing the composition of the new WIPO Senior Management Team of deputy director generals and assistant director generals. New faces in the cabinet include: Mr. Continue Reading →
On Monday, September 15, 2014, Gilead announced licensing agreements with 7 generic drug manufacturers, for two of its HCV drugs, including sofosbuvir, which is currently the most important HCV drug, and the basis for Gilead’s value to shareholders. KEI’s statement from Monday, and links to other NGO comments are here: https://www.keionline.org/node/2082.
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Today Gilead announced it will provide seven generic drug manufacturers licenses to make and sell two drugs that are used in combination to treat the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in 91 developing countries.
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In the piece, WIPO General Assembly 2014: Hard Decisions on the Design Law Treaty and Treaty for Protection of Genetic Resources (22 July 2014), KEI highlighted the hard decisions awaiting the WIPO General Assembly (22 September 2014 to 30 September 2014) with respect to the Design Law Treaty, the imminent revision of the Lisbon Agreement to include geographical indications and WIPO’s work to conclude an instrument for the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore. Continue Reading →
In a concerted bid to contain the emerging threat posed by antibiotic resistance, in May 2014, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) passed WHA resolution 67.25 on “Antimicrobial resistance” instructing the WHO to “develop a global action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance” by May 2015 (Source: WHO page on Draft Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance). Continue Reading →
On August 13, 2014, the Republic of South Africa (RSA) Competition Commission (CC) released the redacted versions of the reports provided to the CC by CPTech in 2003 in the TAC competition case involving GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim. A complete… Continue Reading →
(More on Colombia here: 