PUNE, INDIA – Commerce minister Sunil Barthwal has clarified that India will not sign a new trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) that would limit access by the country’s thriving generic medicine industry to new drug formulations for critical diseases. India is currently negotiating a new trade deal with the EFTA, which […] Continue reading ->
A wide array of stakeholders are looking toward the upcoming World Health Assembly this May to conclude negotiations on a new pandemic accord that seeks to make the world more prepared for the next pandemic. And most would agree that the primary task of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), established by the World Health Assembly […] Continue reading ->
Evergreening patents on medical products – extending the lifespan of patents that are about to expire – is an “abuse of the intellectual property system”, an HIV activist told the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Fair Pricing Forum on Thursday. Meanwhile, an industry representative laid out her company’s value-based, country-specific approach to improving access to medicines, […] Continue reading ->
The high price of medicines in many high- and middle-income countries and ensuring medical supply chains during crises were some of the issues discussed at the Fair Pricing Forum, which opened on Monday. The three-day forum, hosted by the World Health Organization’s (WHO), brings member states and stakeholders together to discuss how to ensure “optimal access […] Continue reading ->
As we approach the final months of member-state negotiations over a World Health Organization Pandemic Accord, due to come before the World Health Assembly in May, the efforts to forge a consensus have witnessed modest progress. However, the original divide between developed and developing countries on key issues such as finance, access and benefit sharing, […] Continue reading ->
In the wake of the COVID pandemic, global health is finally getting on the radar of asset managers of large equity and investment funds – as an option for promoting social responsibility objectives among investor clientele. At a Geneva Graduate Institute session Wednesday on Investors and Civil Society Working Together, two path-finding institutions – one […] Continue reading ->
Strengthening Africa’s medicines regulatory framework is key to achieving the “bold goal” of having 60% of the continent’s vaccines produced locally by 2040, said Margareth Ndomondo-Sigonda, head of health at the African Union’s development agency, AUDA-NEPAD. But only 7% of African country’s national medicines regulatory agencies (NMRA) have “moderately developed capacity”, and more than 90% […] Continue reading ->
Pharmaceutical giant Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and generic manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) charged the South African government more than the European Union for COVID-19 vaccines – and South Africa assumed all the risk in ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ contracts with Pfizer, J&J and SII. This is according to an analysis of the contracts led by Health […] Continue reading ->
A draft political declaration on pandemics, due to be adopted by the United Nations General Assembly later this month, offers “little hope” that the UN process will make a difference in global pandemic preparedness, global health experts said on Friday. The document, made public on Thursday, is long on words but short on commitments. The […] Continue reading ->
Three years after the launch of its COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) initiative, the World Health Organization (WHO) has secured its first COVID-19 vaccine license from a private pharmaceutical company, the UN health body announced on Tuesday. The agreement with Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp., a private vaccine manufacturer based in Taiwan, is a welcome but underwhelming […] Continue reading ->