Background In 2001, the World Trade Organization (WTO) began negotiations on the rules regarding patents and access to medicine. While several issues were clarified and resolved in the November 2001 “Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health”, the negotiations took… Continue Reading
On April 6, 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, gave a media briefing on COVID-19 and the WHO’s efforts to combat the pandemic. In his remarks, Dr. Tedros specifically highlighted the proposal by the… Continue Reading
On April 6, 2020, KEI received a response from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to a letter we sent to DHHS Secretary Alex Azar on March 13, 2020 regarding three areas in Section 202 of the Bayh-Dole Act that… Continue Reading
In Canada, the foreground intellectual property arising under procurement contracts by default belongs to the contractor. However, there are several exceptions to this rule. One key policy provision allows the government to claim title of the foreground intellectual property “where…… Continue Reading
The following is a letter that KEI and Public Citizen sent to Congressional leadership on March 26, 2020, supporting the proposal by the President of Costa Rica to the World Health Organization to create a pool for rights in technology… Continue Reading
March 27, 2020. We are writing to ask the WHO and its Member States to support the proposal by Costa Rica for the creation of a global pooling mechanism for rights in the data, knowledge and technologies useful in the… Continue Reading
On Monday March 23, 2020, Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir received orphan designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of COVID-19. Remdesivir has been reported to be one of the candidates to potentially treat COVID-19, which the… Continue Reading
A House coronavirus stimulus bill contains a provision concerning the use of Other Transactions Authority to fund COVID-19 diagnostics. The provision appears to authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to award $2.2 billion to private sector companies to develop… Continue Reading
(KEI blogs and other work on COVID-19 are here: https://www.keionline.org/coronavirus) A letter from Costa Rica, signed by Carlos Alarado Quesada, the President, and Dr. Daniel Salas Peraza, the Minister of Health, to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was sent this evening… Continue Reading
Today the FDA granted Gilead Orphan Drug status for remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19, on grounds this is a rare disease. The morning of the designation, the U.S. had confirmed, through testing, more than 35 thousand cases, including 8,477… Continue Reading