Article on medical innovation prize fund from Het Financieele Dagblad
Attached is a pdf of an article in the Dutch Het Financieele Dagblad, regarding medical innovation prize funds. An html version is available here. Continue Reading
Author: James Love
2012: Representatives Issa (R-CA) and Maloney (D-NY) introduce anti-open access legislation
On December 16, 2011, H.R. 3699, “the Research Works Act”, was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Committee member Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). This is how the Association of American Publishers describes the bill:
USTR to “clarify” its position on extension of LDC transition period for TRIPS
On June 11, 2011, KEI published KEI Policy Brief 2011:1, which was titled: “White House and European Commission trade official oppose waiver of drug patents for Least Developed Countries (LDCs).”
Pharma company registered lobbying expenditures for USA
According to OpenSecrets.Org, the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector has reported $115,571,832 in lobbying for 2011, a number that will grow considerably when all quarterly reports are filed. The top lobbying outlays were reported by PhRMA, the trade association, followed by Pfizer, Amgen, Merck, Lilly, Novartis, Bayer and GSK. The top generic company was Teva, which ranked 12th overall. As reported by OpenSecrets, some firms are listed more than once, for lobbying outlays by different subsidiaries. Continue Reading
How the US government subsidized Ron Perelman’s smallpox drug: ST-246 (Tecovirimat)
On November 13, 2011, the Los Angeles Times published a story by David Willman on a no-bid contract with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to supply the government with a drug for smallpox. The LA Times story begins with this:
Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.
Special 301 on steroids? Section 205 of HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is not just about the Internet
On October 26, 2011, a bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, known as SOPA. While much of the bill deals with “online” piracy,” some sections of the bill appear to have nothing to do with the Internet. The bill also creates a new bureaucracy to deal with very broadly defined trade related intellectual property rights issues, including those identified in the annual USTR Special 301 report.
Recent cancer drug prices
2010
April 29, 2010.
Brand name: Provenge
Generic name: Sipuleucel-T
Marketed by: Dendreon
Indication: therapy for certain men with advanced prostate cancer that uses their own immune system to fight the disease.
FDA press release here.
US Price: $31,000 per infusion. A full course of treatment is three infusions over a one-month period, or $93k.
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USPTO issued patents mentioning ritonavir in a patent claim
This note begins by looking at patents issued by the USPTO that specifically mention the term ritonavir in the patent claims, or mention the NIH contract that was used to fund the early development of the product. This includes 194 patents that cite ritonavir in the patent claims, and another 42 patents that cite the NIH contact that funded the early ritonavir work. We also provide quotes from an August 19, 2011 WIPO report on the patent landscape for ritonavir that found 805 patent families related to ritonavir.
Coverage of persons living with HIV included in Gilead MPP Licenses
To better understand the benefits of the Gilead/MPP licenses, I have made some calculations of the persons living with HIV that are covered in the geographic areas of the various Gilead/MPP licenses.
- TDF/FTC territories
- COBI territories
- EVG-Quad territories
KEI comments on the ITPC Letter to the Medicines Patent Pool Foundation and UNITAID
The following excerpts are from an exchange of messages on ip-health about a recent recent petition regarding the patent pool that has been posted to several public health email lists. Among the leaders in the petition are apparently ITPC and the New York based I-MAK. ITPC has a long history of advocating for the interests of persons living with HIV, and I-MAK has for many years sought to overcome patent barriers for access to medicines. A copy of the petition is here http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/mppunitaid.