Patients, Members of Congress Ask Chilean Government to Issue Compulsory Licenses on Prostate Cancer and HCV Drug Patents

21 MARCH 2017
PRESS ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Zack Struver, zack.struver@keionline.org, +1 (202) 332-2670 (office) / +1 (914) 582-1428 (cell)
Luis Villarroel, info@innovarte.cl, +56 9 9827 9673

Santiago, Chile — Members of the Chilean Congress and a group of 6 patients visited the Chilean Ministry of Health yesterday to ask that the government use its authority under Chilean law to end patent monopolies on the prostate cancer drug enzalutamide (U.S. brand name Xtandi) and on sofosbuvir-based combination drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV).

The patients and members submitted a petition that outlined the legal authority and public policy rationale for the grant of compulsory licenses on the patents for the drugs described in the petition. Those compulsory licenses would allow prescription drug manufacturers to produce affordable generic versions of the drugs, subject to a reasonable royalty.
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SCP 25: Opening statement of Knowledge Ecology International

On Monday, 12 December 2016, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered its opening statement to the 25th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP).

KEI Opening Statement, for SCP 25
12 December 2016

KEI will discuss two topics. The first concerns government rights in patented inventions, when the government funds or partly funds the research.

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Briefing Call on National Institutes of Health (NIH) patent policies, 29 June 2016, 11:00 A.M. (EST)

KEI will host a conference call at 11:00 A.M. today to brief interested stakeholders and the press on issues related to NIH patent policy, including the recent decision in KEI’s Xtandi petition (additional background here: /xtandi), the grant of exclusive licenses on government-owned inventions (/nih-licenses), and transparency of decision-making at NIH more broadly.

For call-in information, please contact Zack Struver at zack.struver@keionline.org. Continue Reading

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Gates Foundation v. Teachscape: Restrictions on Patenting of Gates-Funded Inventions

In the wake of the NIH’s letter to KEI declining to use the government’s rights in the federally-funded patents on Xtandi under the Bayh Dole Act, it is interesting to consider that even the Gates Foundation, hardly the anti-patent group, maintains certain programs and policies to ensure that Gates-funded inventions are used for charitable purposes, with limitations on pricing.

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2016: Chimeron Bio: KEI comments on NIH proposal for exclusive license for patents on cancer treatments

(More on government funded inventions here. Other KEI comments on NIH licenses are found here.) On May 18th, 2016 the NIH posted a notice on the Federal Register stating it is contemplating the grant of an exclusive license to Chimeron… Continue Reading