Equitable Drug Access and Finance Are Looming Issues in Talks on International Health Regulations 28/07/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher The thorny and unresolved issues of how to incorporate health equity measures and supportive finance for low and middle income countries into revisions of the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR), are set to be two key items on the agenda of an IHR negotiating body when talks resume again in early October. This was one […] Continue reading -> Lining Up Realistic Solutions if the ‘Holy Grail’ of the Pandemic Accord Fails 21/07/2023 Kerry Cullinan With the fate and nature of the pandemic accord currently being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states still uncertain, global health experts are calling for “realistic” backup plans to protect the world against the next pandemic. “We need an ambitious but implementable pandemic accord – that is the Holy Grail,” Javier Guzman, Director […] Continue reading -> Agreement on TB Drug is ‘Stop Gap’ That Excludes High-Burden Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 14/07/2023 Kerry Cullinan The licensing agreement reached between Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the Stop TB Partnership on Thursday to allow the generic production of the tuberculosis drug, bedaquiline, is simply a “stop-gap” measure that applies to a limited number of countries, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). At least nine countries in the Eastern Europe and Central […] Continue reading -> Medicines Patent Pool Announces Licenses for Generic COVID-19 Antiviral 27/06/2023 Stefan Anderson The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announced sublicensing agreements with seven manufacturers to produce and distribute generic versions of Japanese pharmaceutical company Shinogi’s COVID-19 antiviral treatment in 117 low- and middle-income countries. Ensitrelvir is an oral antiviral currently only approved in Japan under the country’s emergency regulatory approval system. The drug is being evaluated under a […] Continue reading -> Pharma Shares COVID-19 Voluntary Licensing Lessons Amid Debate Over Best Path to Access Pandemic Products 15/06/2023 Megha Kaveri One of the most intense debates in the pandemic accord negotiations is over how to fast-track the development and equitable rollout of vaccines and medicines, with pharmaceutical companies insisting that any infringement on intellectual property (IP) rights will stifle innovation and that voluntary arrangements are the way forward. A recent event to showcase voluntary licensing […] Continue reading -> Exclusive: Updated Pandemic Accord Draft Sees Watered Down Text on Publicly-Funded R&D; Pathogen Access and ‘Benefit Sharing’ Linkage Remain 24/05/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher A new “Zero+” version of a proposed World Health Organization pandemic accord being negotiated by member states has dropped previously strong language that conditioned use of public R&D funds to private sector commitments to price transparency and tech transfer of end products, among other measuress. However, the updated draft text, obtained by Health Policy Watch, […] Continue reading -> The WHO Turns 75 06/04/2023 Stefan Anderson Seventy-five years ago on Friday – World Health Day – the World Health Organization’s (WHO) founding constitution became the first document to formally recognize health as a human right. Three-quarters of a century later, a WHO battered by the COVID-19 pandemic is juggling how to adapt to new health threats with achieving its most basic […] Continue reading -> Gap of Undiagnosed TB Cases Narrows as Global Response Rebounds from COVID 24/03/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher After major setbacks during the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment appears to have rebounded with the number of undiagnosed TB-infections estimated at less than three million people in 2022- the lowest ever. That’s according to preliminary data released by the Stop TB Partnership, on Friday, World TB Day. “In 2022 the gap between the estimated […] Continue reading -> U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Lining Up Realistic Solutions if the ‘Holy Grail’ of the Pandemic Accord Fails 21/07/2023 Kerry Cullinan With the fate and nature of the pandemic accord currently being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states still uncertain, global health experts are calling for “realistic” backup plans to protect the world against the next pandemic. “We need an ambitious but implementable pandemic accord – that is the Holy Grail,” Javier Guzman, Director […] Continue reading -> Agreement on TB Drug is ‘Stop Gap’ That Excludes High-Burden Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 14/07/2023 Kerry Cullinan The licensing agreement reached between Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the Stop TB Partnership on Thursday to allow the generic production of the tuberculosis drug, bedaquiline, is simply a “stop-gap” measure that applies to a limited number of countries, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). At least nine countries in the Eastern Europe and Central […] Continue reading -> Medicines Patent Pool Announces Licenses for Generic COVID-19 Antiviral 27/06/2023 Stefan Anderson The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announced sublicensing agreements with seven manufacturers to produce and distribute generic versions of Japanese pharmaceutical company Shinogi’s COVID-19 antiviral treatment in 117 low- and middle-income countries. Ensitrelvir is an oral antiviral currently only approved in Japan under the country’s emergency regulatory approval system. The drug is being evaluated under a […] Continue reading -> Pharma Shares COVID-19 Voluntary Licensing Lessons Amid Debate Over Best Path to Access Pandemic Products 15/06/2023 Megha Kaveri One of the most intense debates in the pandemic accord negotiations is over how to fast-track the development and equitable rollout of vaccines and medicines, with pharmaceutical companies insisting that any infringement on intellectual property (IP) rights will stifle innovation and that voluntary arrangements are the way forward. A recent event to showcase voluntary licensing […] Continue reading -> Exclusive: Updated Pandemic Accord Draft Sees Watered Down Text on Publicly-Funded R&D; Pathogen Access and ‘Benefit Sharing’ Linkage Remain 24/05/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher A new “Zero+” version of a proposed World Health Organization pandemic accord being negotiated by member states has dropped previously strong language that conditioned use of public R&D funds to private sector commitments to price transparency and tech transfer of end products, among other measuress. However, the updated draft text, obtained by Health Policy Watch, […] Continue reading -> The WHO Turns 75 06/04/2023 Stefan Anderson Seventy-five years ago on Friday – World Health Day – the World Health Organization’s (WHO) founding constitution became the first document to formally recognize health as a human right. Three-quarters of a century later, a WHO battered by the COVID-19 pandemic is juggling how to adapt to new health threats with achieving its most basic […] Continue reading -> Gap of Undiagnosed TB Cases Narrows as Global Response Rebounds from COVID 24/03/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher After major setbacks during the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment appears to have rebounded with the number of undiagnosed TB-infections estimated at less than three million people in 2022- the lowest ever. That’s according to preliminary data released by the Stop TB Partnership, on Friday, World TB Day. “In 2022 the gap between the estimated […] Continue reading -> U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Agreement on TB Drug is ‘Stop Gap’ That Excludes High-Burden Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 14/07/2023 Kerry Cullinan The licensing agreement reached between Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the Stop TB Partnership on Thursday to allow the generic production of the tuberculosis drug, bedaquiline, is simply a “stop-gap” measure that applies to a limited number of countries, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). At least nine countries in the Eastern Europe and Central […] Continue reading -> Medicines Patent Pool Announces Licenses for Generic COVID-19 Antiviral 27/06/2023 Stefan Anderson The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announced sublicensing agreements with seven manufacturers to produce and distribute generic versions of Japanese pharmaceutical company Shinogi’s COVID-19 antiviral treatment in 117 low- and middle-income countries. Ensitrelvir is an oral antiviral currently only approved in Japan under the country’s emergency regulatory approval system. The drug is being evaluated under a […] Continue reading -> Pharma Shares COVID-19 Voluntary Licensing Lessons Amid Debate Over Best Path to Access Pandemic Products 15/06/2023 Megha Kaveri One of the most intense debates in the pandemic accord negotiations is over how to fast-track the development and equitable rollout of vaccines and medicines, with pharmaceutical companies insisting that any infringement on intellectual property (IP) rights will stifle innovation and that voluntary arrangements are the way forward. A recent event to showcase voluntary licensing […] Continue reading -> Exclusive: Updated Pandemic Accord Draft Sees Watered Down Text on Publicly-Funded R&D; Pathogen Access and ‘Benefit Sharing’ Linkage Remain 24/05/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher A new “Zero+” version of a proposed World Health Organization pandemic accord being negotiated by member states has dropped previously strong language that conditioned use of public R&D funds to private sector commitments to price transparency and tech transfer of end products, among other measuress. However, the updated draft text, obtained by Health Policy Watch, […] Continue reading -> The WHO Turns 75 06/04/2023 Stefan Anderson Seventy-five years ago on Friday – World Health Day – the World Health Organization’s (WHO) founding constitution became the first document to formally recognize health as a human right. Three-quarters of a century later, a WHO battered by the COVID-19 pandemic is juggling how to adapt to new health threats with achieving its most basic […] Continue reading -> Gap of Undiagnosed TB Cases Narrows as Global Response Rebounds from COVID 24/03/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher After major setbacks during the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment appears to have rebounded with the number of undiagnosed TB-infections estimated at less than three million people in 2022- the lowest ever. That’s according to preliminary data released by the Stop TB Partnership, on Friday, World TB Day. “In 2022 the gap between the estimated […] Continue reading -> U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Medicines Patent Pool Announces Licenses for Generic COVID-19 Antiviral 27/06/2023 Stefan Anderson The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announced sublicensing agreements with seven manufacturers to produce and distribute generic versions of Japanese pharmaceutical company Shinogi’s COVID-19 antiviral treatment in 117 low- and middle-income countries. Ensitrelvir is an oral antiviral currently only approved in Japan under the country’s emergency regulatory approval system. The drug is being evaluated under a […] Continue reading -> Pharma Shares COVID-19 Voluntary Licensing Lessons Amid Debate Over Best Path to Access Pandemic Products 15/06/2023 Megha Kaveri One of the most intense debates in the pandemic accord negotiations is over how to fast-track the development and equitable rollout of vaccines and medicines, with pharmaceutical companies insisting that any infringement on intellectual property (IP) rights will stifle innovation and that voluntary arrangements are the way forward. A recent event to showcase voluntary licensing […] Continue reading -> Exclusive: Updated Pandemic Accord Draft Sees Watered Down Text on Publicly-Funded R&D; Pathogen Access and ‘Benefit Sharing’ Linkage Remain 24/05/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher A new “Zero+” version of a proposed World Health Organization pandemic accord being negotiated by member states has dropped previously strong language that conditioned use of public R&D funds to private sector commitments to price transparency and tech transfer of end products, among other measuress. However, the updated draft text, obtained by Health Policy Watch, […] Continue reading -> The WHO Turns 75 06/04/2023 Stefan Anderson Seventy-five years ago on Friday – World Health Day – the World Health Organization’s (WHO) founding constitution became the first document to formally recognize health as a human right. Three-quarters of a century later, a WHO battered by the COVID-19 pandemic is juggling how to adapt to new health threats with achieving its most basic […] Continue reading -> Gap of Undiagnosed TB Cases Narrows as Global Response Rebounds from COVID 24/03/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher After major setbacks during the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment appears to have rebounded with the number of undiagnosed TB-infections estimated at less than three million people in 2022- the lowest ever. That’s according to preliminary data released by the Stop TB Partnership, on Friday, World TB Day. “In 2022 the gap between the estimated […] Continue reading -> U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Pharma Shares COVID-19 Voluntary Licensing Lessons Amid Debate Over Best Path to Access Pandemic Products 15/06/2023 Megha Kaveri One of the most intense debates in the pandemic accord negotiations is over how to fast-track the development and equitable rollout of vaccines and medicines, with pharmaceutical companies insisting that any infringement on intellectual property (IP) rights will stifle innovation and that voluntary arrangements are the way forward. A recent event to showcase voluntary licensing […] Continue reading -> Exclusive: Updated Pandemic Accord Draft Sees Watered Down Text on Publicly-Funded R&D; Pathogen Access and ‘Benefit Sharing’ Linkage Remain 24/05/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher A new “Zero+” version of a proposed World Health Organization pandemic accord being negotiated by member states has dropped previously strong language that conditioned use of public R&D funds to private sector commitments to price transparency and tech transfer of end products, among other measuress. However, the updated draft text, obtained by Health Policy Watch, […] Continue reading -> The WHO Turns 75 06/04/2023 Stefan Anderson Seventy-five years ago on Friday – World Health Day – the World Health Organization’s (WHO) founding constitution became the first document to formally recognize health as a human right. Three-quarters of a century later, a WHO battered by the COVID-19 pandemic is juggling how to adapt to new health threats with achieving its most basic […] Continue reading -> Gap of Undiagnosed TB Cases Narrows as Global Response Rebounds from COVID 24/03/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher After major setbacks during the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment appears to have rebounded with the number of undiagnosed TB-infections estimated at less than three million people in 2022- the lowest ever. That’s according to preliminary data released by the Stop TB Partnership, on Friday, World TB Day. “In 2022 the gap between the estimated […] Continue reading -> U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Exclusive: Updated Pandemic Accord Draft Sees Watered Down Text on Publicly-Funded R&D; Pathogen Access and ‘Benefit Sharing’ Linkage Remain 24/05/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher A new “Zero+” version of a proposed World Health Organization pandemic accord being negotiated by member states has dropped previously strong language that conditioned use of public R&D funds to private sector commitments to price transparency and tech transfer of end products, among other measuress. However, the updated draft text, obtained by Health Policy Watch, […] Continue reading -> The WHO Turns 75 06/04/2023 Stefan Anderson Seventy-five years ago on Friday – World Health Day – the World Health Organization’s (WHO) founding constitution became the first document to formally recognize health as a human right. Three-quarters of a century later, a WHO battered by the COVID-19 pandemic is juggling how to adapt to new health threats with achieving its most basic […] Continue reading -> Gap of Undiagnosed TB Cases Narrows as Global Response Rebounds from COVID 24/03/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher After major setbacks during the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment appears to have rebounded with the number of undiagnosed TB-infections estimated at less than three million people in 2022- the lowest ever. That’s according to preliminary data released by the Stop TB Partnership, on Friday, World TB Day. “In 2022 the gap between the estimated […] Continue reading -> U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
The WHO Turns 75 06/04/2023 Stefan Anderson Seventy-five years ago on Friday – World Health Day – the World Health Organization’s (WHO) founding constitution became the first document to formally recognize health as a human right. Three-quarters of a century later, a WHO battered by the COVID-19 pandemic is juggling how to adapt to new health threats with achieving its most basic […] Continue reading -> Gap of Undiagnosed TB Cases Narrows as Global Response Rebounds from COVID 24/03/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher After major setbacks during the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment appears to have rebounded with the number of undiagnosed TB-infections estimated at less than three million people in 2022- the lowest ever. That’s according to preliminary data released by the Stop TB Partnership, on Friday, World TB Day. “In 2022 the gap between the estimated […] Continue reading -> U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Gap of Undiagnosed TB Cases Narrows as Global Response Rebounds from COVID 24/03/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher After major setbacks during the pandemic, TB diagnosis and treatment appears to have rebounded with the number of undiagnosed TB-infections estimated at less than three million people in 2022- the lowest ever. That’s according to preliminary data released by the Stop TB Partnership, on Friday, World TB Day. “In 2022 the gap between the estimated […] Continue reading -> U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
U.S. Government Invested $31.9 Billion in mRNA Vaccine Research and Procurement 02/03/2023 Stefan Anderson A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines through channels ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense. That vast pool of U.S. public funding was indispensable […] Continue reading -> Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Pathogen Sharing: Pandemic Accord Could Offer Solutions or Further Tangle the Web of Confusion 17/02/2023 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Just 66 days after the SARS-CoV2 genetic sequence was shared by a Chinese scientist online, the first COVID-19 vaccines went into production – in record time for R&D that yielded the first approved vaccines less than a year later. But there are looming concerns that the relatively open models of data and pathogen sharing that […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts