PhRMA’s 2018 Special 301 Submission targets Australia, Canada, S. Korea, Japan & others over pricing, reimbursement policies

In its 2018 Special 301 submission, PhRMA targets a number of countries for pricing and reimbursement policies deemed hostile to the pharmaceutical industry. Among these, PhRMA strategically lobbies for the strongest classifications for Canada and Korea — countries dealing with… Continue Reading

Chilean Cámara de Diputados Votes Overwhelmingly To Proceed With Compulsory Licenses for HCV Drugs

The Cámara de Diputados of the Chilean Congress has overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on the President to advance the compulsory licensing request on HCV drugs made in March 2017 by patients, advocates including Innovarte NGO, and elected officials. The resolution, Number… Continue Reading

PAHO 29th Pan-American Sanitary Conference: Statement of Knowledge Ecology International on Draft Concept Note

On Wednesday September 27, 2017, Knowledge Ecology International delivered an intervention at the PAHO 29th Pan-American Sanitary Conference during agenda item 8.10 on the Draft Concept Note towards WHO’s 13th General Programme of Work 2019–2023. I delivered the statement on behalf of KEI.

Mr. President:

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Brussels Principles on Medication Sales over the Internet

On March 31st, KEI joined Prescription Justice, EFF, and Public Citizen at RightsCon 2017 to discuss the issues of sales of medication over the Internet. I was in attendance on KEI’s behalf; Gabe Levitt represented Prescription Justice; Jeremy Malcolm presented for EFF; and Burcu Kilic was there for Public Citizen. It was one of the few panels at RightsCon dedicated to medicines/health.

After the session, the panelists convened to draft an agreement on a series of overarching principles that may help guide policy and shape the conversation.

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Six Senators Call on Army to Hold Public Hearing on Proposed Exclusive License of Zika Vaccine to Sanofi

Today, six Senators, including Sen. Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Markey (D-MA), Sen. Brown (D-OH), Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT), and Sen. Angus King (I-ME), sent a letter to Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer requesting a public hearing on the proposed exclusive license of a federally-funded Zika vaccine to the French multinational, Sanofi, and saying that “it is imperative that any forthcoming vaccine is accessible and affordable for all, especially given the significant taxpayer investment to date.”

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FOIA documents: In 2015 Novartis asked U.S. Dept of Commerce to Pressure Colombia Against Compulsory License on Glivec

In February 2016, KEI submitted a FOIA to USTR requesting “all correspondence and notes sent internally by the Office of the US Trade Representative as well as with Colombian government officials, other foreign government officials, and non-governmental persons or entities regarding efforts in the government of Colombia to issue compulsory licenses on medical technologies. Continue Reading