(More on government funded inventions here. Other KEI comments on NIH licenses are found here.) On May 31, 2017, we sent the following comment to the NIH regarding the proposed exclusive license on certain patents for cancer treatment to GeneXion Oncology. May 31,… Continue Reading
Portugal delivered the following statement at the 70th World Health Assembly on agenda item, 13.3 – Global shortage of, and access to medicines and vaccines.
In relation to the Report of the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines (UNHLP), the delegation of Portugal quoted the intervention delivered by the Portuguese Minister of Health, Professor Campos Fernandes at the plenary of the 70th World Health Assembly.
23 May 2017
Groups ask Army to reconsider decision that would allow French firm to charge the US anything it wants on a federally funded Zika vaccine
CONTACT: Zack Struver, zack.struver@keionline.org, +1 (914) 582-1428
Andrew Goldman, andrew.goldman@keionline.org
James Love, james.love@keionline.org, +1 (202) 361-3040
After at least eight rounds of negotiation, including two Geneva-based negotiations held on 12 May 2017 and 17 May 2017, the G20 Health Ministers meeting, convened in Berlin from 19-20 May 2017 issued the following declaration.
In relation to the R&D pipeline for developing new antimicrobial therapies, the G20 recognized “the importance of fostering R&D for new antimicrobials, alternative therapies, vaccines and rapid-point-of care diagnostics, in particular for priority pathogens as identified by WHO and for tuberculosis.”
For quite a more detail on this issue, see /zika.
2016 January: Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) begins development of a vaccine candidate for Zika virus, based on its work in developing vaccines “against other flaviviruses, such as yellow fever, dengue and Japanese encephalitis.”
On May 3, 2017, 29 civil society organizations and 33 health professionals, activists, and economists — including Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz — asked delegates to the World Health Assembly (WHA) to support a feasibility study on the progressive delinkage of the costs of research and development from the price of cancer medicines. The groups and experts sent a letter to the delegates.
This was the KEI submission to the OECD consultation on “Sustainable access to innovative therapies,” which involved four questions posed by OECD on access to medicines.
Question 1: Reflecting on the last 5-10 years, what do you think have been the major changes affecting access to medicines?
Continue Reading
May 4, 2017 SCCR 34 Discussion on Limitations and Exceptions for people with other disabilities
If the final text of the Marrakesh Treaty had included Article 15(b) of the 1st version of the treaty negotiating text (SCCR/18/5) that would have clearly covered “other disabilities”, we would not have had the morning discussion.
Here is what had been drafted with the approval of an inclusive group of disabilities experts:
ARTICLE 15. DISABILITIES COVERED(a) For the purposes of this Treaty, a ‘visually impaired’ person is:
a person who is blind; or
Continue ReadingSCCR 34 Chair’s proposal regarding the committee’s work on L&E and member states comments
SCCR 34 May 3. Chair’s proposal regarding the committee’s work on L&E and member states comments
In brief:
- The Chair supports an update of the Crews Study
- The Chair proposes a seminar or conference with multidisciplinary approach to L&Es in the digital environment (instead of separated “silos” such as are now L&Es for Libraries and Education
SCCR 34 NGOs on Limitations and Exceptions for libraries and archives
May 3, 2017 AM Session. SCCR 34 Limitations and Exceptions for libraries and archives
NGOs statements
IFLA presented its proposal for future work:
- a draft model law
- an updated searchable database of exceptions and limitations for libraries, archives and museums
- a study on issues related to limitations and exceptions for libraries, archives and museums and a cross-border context including digital uses.