Senate Foreign Relations Committee questions State Department, USAID, and HHS on COVID-19 and U.S. International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response

On Thursday, 18 June 2020, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee convened a hearing on COVID-19 and U.S. International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response. The witnesses called to provide testimony included: 1) James L. Richardson, Director, Office of Foreign Assistance, U.S.… Continue Reading

WTO TRIPS Council (informal): South Africa’s interventions on COVID-19, TRIPS flexibilities, and domestic manufacturing capacity

On Friday, 19 June 2020, the World Trade Organization (WTO) convened an informal virtual Open-ended Meeting of the TRIPS Council. . The following statements were delivered by South Africa at the virtual open-ended informal meeting of the TRIPS Council. In… Continue Reading

While a major victory for Australia and public health, the WTO Appellate Body failed to address the legal status of the Doha Declaration

On June 9, 2020, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body circulated its reports relating to the Australia – Tobacco Plain Packaging cases. The reports issued the decision regarding the appeals brought by Honduras and the Dominican Republic against the… Continue Reading

EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan issues statement on European Union compulsory licensing in context of COVID-19, makes important statement about TRIPS Article 31bis

On 14 May 2020, Bernd Lange, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) wrote a letter to Phil Hogan (Commissioner for Trade, European Commission) on the “commercial aspects of intellectual property rights for medical products in the… Continue Reading

AstraZeneca, Pfizer, IFPMA on the WHO COVID-19 Pool at May 28, 2020 IFPMA Press Briefing

At a May 28,2020 press briefing organized by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), pharma CEOs and the IFPMA DG commented on the WHO proposal for a global pool for rights in technologies for the diagnosis, prevention… Continue Reading