KEI letter to Brian Nelson, Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, regarding exceptions to sanctions for medical products

KEI is sending this letter to the Administration today, regarding measures we would like to see undertaken to make the humanitarian exceptions to sanctions work better.  This is a neglected area of policy failure, although there is evidence that the Biden administration… Continue Reading

KEI requests an open compulsory license relating to Paxlovid in the Dominican Republic

On Friday, December 3, 2021, KEI requested an open public interest license to allow the exploitation of PF-07321332 (marketed in combination with ritonavir under the brand Paxlovid) in the Dominican Republic. PF-07321332, being developed by Pfizer, has shown promising results… Continue Reading

WHO member countries agree on a pathway to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response

After two weeks of intense negotiations, member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) have finally agreed to compromise text on a decision (The World Together: Establishment of an intergovernmental negotiating body to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, SSA2/CONF./1)… Continue Reading

KEI comments on NIH proposed exclusive license to Neogene Therapeutics CRISPR-Engineered T Cell Therapies for the Treatment of Cancer

November 10, 2021 Andrew Burke, Ph.D. Senior Technology Transfer Manager, NCI Technology Transfer Center, Email: andy.burke@nih.gov. Re: Prospective Grant of an Exclusive Patent License: Development and Commercialization of CRISPR-Engineered T Cell Therapies for the Treatment of Cancer to Neogene Therapeutics… Continue Reading

KEI Comments on the Medicines Patent Pool/Merck License for Molnupiravir

(For more resources, please see our page on molnupiravir.) The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and Merck Sharp & Dohme (“MSD” or “Merck”) have announced a voluntary license for the generic manufacture and sale of molnupiravir. A joint press release from… Continue Reading

Countries included in the Merck/molnupiravir voluntary license with generic suppliers

(For more resources, please see our page on molnupiravir.) According to Brook Baker, these are the countries included in the Merck voluntary license to generic suppliers Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon,… Continue Reading

International landscape of molnupiravir patents

(For more resources, please see our page on molnupiravir.) KEI has built a dataset of patents related to molnupiravir based upon a study by Imran et al (2021), the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) MedsPal database, and our own searches. Our… Continue Reading

WIPO General Assembly 2021: General statement of Knowledge Ecology International

On Tuesday, 5 October 2021, Knowledge Ecology International delivered the following opening statement at the 2021 WIPO General Assembly. General Statement of Knowledge Ecology International – WIPO General Assembly 5 October 2021 The COVID pandemic illustrates flaws in the intellectual… Continue Reading

WHO expands the list of essential medicines and proposes a new working group to address ways to make highly priced essential medicines more affordable and accessible.

On October 1, 2021, the WHO published the new edition of its Model Lists (the EML) of Essential Medicines and Essential Medicines for Children. WHO Documents Press Release Executive Summary World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 22nd list… Continue Reading