Open letter asking 37 WTO Members to declare themselves eligible to import medicines manufactured under compulsory license in another country, under 31bis of TRIPS Agreement

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

KEI and Public Citizen letter to Congress regarding Costa Rica proposal for WHO COVID-19 pool of rights in technology and data

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

Open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Member States on the proposal by Costa Rica to create a global pool for rights in the data, knowledge and technologies useful in the prevention, detection and treatment of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic

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

President and Minister of Health of Costa Rica ask WHO to create global pool for rights in COVID-19 related technologies

(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

Resolution to require the National Government to establish compulsory licenses and other measures to guarantee free and affordable access to pharmaceutical products and medical technologies in the Declaration of Sanitary Emergency due to the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and other variations, as well as biosafety protocols and instruments for health personnel, postgraduates and students of the Public Health System.

Resolution to require the National Government to establish compulsory licenses and other measures to guarantee free and affordable access to pharmaceutical products and medical technologies in the Declaration of Sanitary Emergency due to the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and other variations,… Continue Reading

KEI Blogs and Reseach notes on COVID-19/Coronavirus

COVID-19 Gov’t Contracts: KEI has obtained numerous contracts between the federal government and pharmaceutical companies regarding COVID-19 medical technologies via the Freedom of Information act. For these and other contracts, please see: https://www.keionline.org/covid-contracts. COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing: KEI has gathered data… Continue Reading

Chilean Chamber of Deputies approves resolution for compulsory licenses for patents relating to the coronavirus virus

For more on KEI’s work on COVID-19, see keonline.org/coronavirus. Today, with an overwhelming 127 votes in favor and 0 votes against, the Chilean Chamber of Deputies approved a strong resolution asking the Chilean Government to declare that there is justification… Continue Reading