FDA creates $500k prize for technology to improve detection of Salmonella

This just published by the US FDA:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking for potential breakthrough ideas on how to find disease-causing organisms in food – especially Salmonella in fresh produce.

The 2014 FDA Food Safety Challenge was developed under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, which grants all federal agencies broad authority to conduct prize competitions to spur innovation, solve tough problems, and advance their core missions. This challenge offers a total prize pool of $500,000.

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WIPO General Assembly 2014: Opening Statement of Knowledge Ecology International

On Tuesday, 23 September 2014, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered this opening statement on the occasion of the Fifty-Fourth Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Thank you Madame Chair for providing Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) the opportunity to speak today.

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Bayer’s rejection of request for affordable Nexavar for Fathi Helmi Aboseda (Egypt)

Today we received news from Nina Mahmud that her father-in-law, Fathi Helmi Aboseda, has passed away in Egypt. Mr. Aboseda was suffering from liver cancer. Earlier this year, Nina Mahmud had contacted Bayer and KEI asking for help in finding affordable copies of sorafenib, a drug for liver and kidney cancer sold by Bayer under the trade name Nexavar, a drug that was extending and improving the quality of his life. The price of Nexavar in Egypt was $900 per week, and Mr. Aboseda had used his entire life savings to buy the drug.

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WIPO General Assembly 2014: Opening statement of the United States broaches IGC, broadcasting treaty and copyright L&Es

On Monday, 22 September 2014, Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto delivered this opening statement on behalf of the United States at the 2014 WIPO General Assembly.

Ten years on from the launch of the Development Agenda by Argentina and Brazil in 2004, the Obama administration expressed the following views on the Development Agenda:

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WIPO General Assembly 2014: Asia Pacific Group charts its position on Broadcast Treaty, Design Law Treaty and copyright L&Es

On Monday, 22 September 2014, Bangladesh delivered the following statement on behalf of the Asia Pacific Group. Here below is the Group’s position on WIPO’s normative work including copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives, copyright limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and persons with other disabilities, the proposed Design Law Treaty, the proposed broadcasting treaty and proposed instruments for the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.

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WIPO’s new Senior Management Team: New faces for Copyright, Development, Global Issues and Patents

A long standing parlor game for WIPO insiders and observers during the summer of 2014 involved guessing the composition of WIPO’s new Senior Management Team (the team of deputy director generals and assistant director generals who form WIPO’s cabinet). On 16 September 2014, the WIPO secretariat laid this to rest by revealing the composition of the new WIPO Senior Management Team of deputy director generals and assistant director generals. New faces in the cabinet include: Mr. Continue Reading

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