As global stocks of remdesivir, one of the few promising therapeutics for COVID-19, run low, the drug’s maker Gilead Sciences says that voluntary licensing to enable more manufacturers to produce the drug will not help expand access, countering advocates’ calls.  Rather, the lack of a “coordinated global supply chain” is to blame for worldwide shortages […] Continue reading ->
As the 73rd World Health Assembly approaches, the European Union-sponsored draft resolution on the COVID-19 response is gathering steam and storm as it rolls closer to the planned opening of the Assembly on 18 May – with far less clarity about how it might actually hit the shores of the public debate.  The resolution aims […] Continue reading ->
In the largest global collaboration to address the COVID-19 crisis so far, the World Health Organization, European Commission, and other partners including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), launched a new campaign to accelerate development of COVID-19 diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines – and just as critically ensure that they are affordable and accessible worldwide. […] Continue reading ->
“We all have a vested interest to stop this epidemic,” says Thomas Cueni, Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA). As WHO on Tuesday convenes a Global Research & Innovation Forum to rapidly ramp up R&D, Cueni spoke with Health Policy Watch  about what he describes as  “the extraordinary willingness […] Continue reading ->
Funding to develop new drugs for some of the world’s leading infectious disease killers, such as HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, reached a record high of US $4 billion in 2018, with private sector investment driving much of the increase, according to the 2019 G-FINDER Report, which tracks such investments globally. However, investments in neglected tropical […] Continue reading ->
Criminal activity surrounding the manufacture, distribution and sale of falsified medicines is “on the rise” as a global health problem in many developing countries and in rich nations – especially online – but efforts to stem the growing health threat will require robust collective action by all stakeholders, a leading Novartis official warned Friday in […] Continue reading ->
The issues around access to medicines at affordable prices has galvanized civil society, the pharmaceutical industry, the research community, and politicians this year in oft-contentious debate that shows no sign of abating. A day-long session hosted by the Global Health Centre of Geneva’s Graduate Institute, and cosponsored by the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property and […] Continue reading ->
A new knowledge hub Global Health Progress, highlighting over 200 collaborations between the biopharmaceutical industry involving more than 850 government, multilateral organization and civil society partners, was launched Friday by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA). The hub provides a worldwide mapping of health-related initiatives in which IFPMA members are engaged, searchable […] Continue reading ->