KEI submissions to the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicine

Attached below are the four submissions for which KEI was the lead author to the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel (HLP) on Access to Medicine.

  1. “The Need for Global Negotiations on Agreements to Fund R&D within the Context of a Progressive De-linking of R&D Costs from Product Prices”. Supported by 12 organizations; 1 individual; 3 Members of European Parliament.
  2. “Increasing the Transparency of Markets for Drugs, Vaccines, Diagnostics and other Medical Technologies”. Supported by 17 organizations; 2 individuals; 3 Members of European Parliament.
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US Chamber of Commerce lauds USPTO for securing a time-bound LDC waiver for pharmaceutical products

Nestled at the end Intellectual Property Watch’s (IP-Watch) brilliant reportage of a US Chamber of Commerce event – “Has the Sun Set on Multilateral Rulemaking on IP?” – is a quote by Patrick Kilbride (Executive Director, U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global IP Center) praising the efforts of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in WTO negotiations on the LDC waiver for pharmaceutical products.

IP-Watch reported,

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Joint NGO Statement on TRIPS Council Decision On Extension of the Transition Period Concerning Pharmaceutical Products

JOINT NGO STATEMENT
TRIPS Council Decision On Extension of the Transition Period Concerning Pharmaceutical Products

(PDF copy available here)

Today (6th November), the WTO-TRIPS Council adopted a decision granting Least Developed Countries (LDCs) an exemption from patents and test data protection for pharmaceutical products for a duration of 17 years.

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Support for the Delinkage of the Costs of R&D and the Price of Medicines

The concept of delinkage refers to an model of incentivizing innovation in pharmaceutical research and development wherein the price of a medical technology is not linked to the cost of R&D. The application of delinkage in the medical technologies market has been gaining broad based support from NGOs, IGOs, and governments. Below are a selection of public statements, resolutions, bills, and papers that call for the need for delinkage in ensuring global access to medicines.

Endorsements by Governments

European Union:
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What’s wrong with current system of funding R&D, and what are ideas for reforms?

I was recently asked by OSF to write a two page document that described “what was wrong with the current system of funding R&D?” and to offer some “important ideas for change.” This was my two page submission.


What is wrong with the current system for funding R&D? What are the most important ideas for change?
(In two pages, for OSF meeting on drug development)

James Love
October 20, 2015

1. What is wrong with the current system for funding R&D?

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Some KEI Tweets regarding TPP IP Chapter

On 9 October 2015, Wikileaks released the final text of the IP chapter in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Jamie Love provided comments via twitter.

https://twitter.com/jamie_love

Updated: 9 October 2015
(In the order posted)

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KEI urges investigation of trade pressures on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in light of Executive Order 13155

Knowledge Ecology International sent letters today (attached to this release), September 21, 2015, to the Office of the General Counsel to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Commerce, asking that they investigate USTR and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the potential violation of an Executive Order issued by Bill Clinton — which prohibits the use of trade pressures to hinder polices related to access to HIV/AIDS medicines in sub-Saharan Africa — in their attempt to stop a request by Least Develop Continue Reading

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Joint NGO letter to USTR and USPTO: What is the US Position on LDC Pharmaceutical Extension of TRIPS Transition Period?

On Friday, 11 September 2015 five public interest groups (Health GAP, Knowledge Ecology International, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam America and Public Citizen) sent a letter to Ambassador Michael Froman (United States Trade Representative) and Michelle Lee, (Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office) requesting that the Obama administration disclose its position on the LDC request for an extension of their pharmaceutical production transition period under the WTO TRIPS Agreement.

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