This note provide additional context for those who are just now following the issue of conflicts of interest and the WHO Consultative Expert Working Group (CEWG) on R&D Financing.
The CEWG follows a controversial, flawed and failed effort by an earlier group, the WHO Expert Working Group (EWG) on R&D Financing, to:
At the end of the day on Monday, the 128 WHO Executive Board meeting took the agenda item for creation of a new R&D Financing consultative expert working group (CEWG). (Yesterday’s blog on this topic is here)
On December 14, 2010, Life Technologies Corporation, which among other things owns Ion Torrent, which sells the Ion Personal Genome Machine sequencer, announced seven new medical innovation prizes. The first three prizes are related to improvements in the Ion semiconcudtor sequencing products. Each of the three sequencer prizes is funded at $1 million, and will be awarded to contestants that can achieve the following goals:
The US based National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are collaborating on a program called Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development (BREAD). A May 12, 2010 NSF announcement about the program is available here. Continue Reading
As 2011 unfolds, the following conferences and negotiations are expected to shape the knowledge governance landscape this year at WHO, WIPO and WTO.
World Health Organization
Differences in deaths for 6 cancer types in 14 WHO regions, with reference to income of region
A pdf version of this document is available here.
KEI Research Note 2010:5
December 23, 2010Differences in ratio of deaths to new cases for 6 cancer types in 14 WHO regions, with reference to income of region
Introduction
Ratio of year 2000 breast cancer deaths to new breast cancer patients in Europe, by country and country income
The following graph presents the year 2000 raw mortality rate of breast cancer patients in 36 European Countries. The graph compares the ratio of breast cancer deaths to the annual incidence of breast cancer, to the per capita incomes in those countries, all based upon year 2000 data. Continue Reading
NIH funded research involving trastuzumab (marketed by Roche under the trade name Herceptin)
13 December 2010
Drugs@FDA
Drug Name(s) HERCEPTIN (Brand Name Drug)
FDA Application No. (BLA) 103792
Active Ingredient(s) TRASTUZUMAB
Company GENENTECH (Roche acquired a majority ownership in 1990, and full ownership in March 2009.)
Original Approval or Tentative Approval Date September 25, 1998What is Herceptin? How does it work?
Statements by KEI and others on NIH rejection of Fabrazyme March-In Request
For background on the Fabrazyme case, see: https://www.keionline.org/fabrazyme
The following statements were made today by civil society on the NIH rejection of the Fabrazyme March-in Request Petition. Contact Judit Rius at judit.rius@keionline.org if your organization would like to submit an statement.
Statement by James Love, Director of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) (Contact: 1.202.361.3040)
Microsoft, Gates Foundation Timeline
November 29, 2010 Revised January 4, 2011 Introduction This timeline contains a number of selected data points concerning Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The motivations for this timeline, which features entries for both Microsoft and the… Continue Reading