EP Working Group on Access to Medicines and Poverty-Related Diseases

29/01/2019

Last week the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee adopted a proposal for an SPC waiver. Yet, it also included a requirement to evaluate the SPC system (which prolongs a monopoly beyond the 20 year patent term) on access to medicines. More details of the significance of these developments in my latest blog post.

Yesterday, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) adopted important amendments to a proposal for the introduction of a manufacturing waiver for Supplementary Protection Certifi…

29/01/2019

In addition to the earlier post on a new cancer treatement below. Three senior WHO staff did a review of the cost of R&D and sales income of cancer treatements and concluded the high prices "hamper access for patients", "yield excessive and unreasonable returns" & "contribute to inefficiencies in R&D of cancer drugs and stifle clinically meaningful innovation".

This observational study determines whether sale incomes and research and development (R&D) costs for US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved cancer drugs sold by originator drug companies justify high prices for cancer drugs.

29/01/2019

Successful Cancer treatment developed in the Netherlands is now unavailable to Dutch patients following price hike by Novartis after buying sole supplier of both treatment and active ingredients.

Time to put a stop to the abuse of orphan drug regulation- the latest scandal By Ellen 't Hoen - January 9, 2019 Today, the Dutch Medical Journal (Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde) reported on the case of lutetium-octreotaat, a cancer drug developed by researchers in the Dutch Erasmus medical...

06/03/2018

The Members of the EPWG hereby express their strong condemnation of the request from the US pharmaceutical industry trade body, PhRMA, to add the European Union to the United States Trade Representative’s "Special 301" watch list.
"We condemn this bullying tactic, aimed at influencing the work the EU has undertaken to review intellectual property incentives that create spiraling drug prices without raising the bar on innovation, and failing to serve EU citizens and governments."

6 March 2018 — We, the Members of the European Parliament Working Group on innovation, access to medicines and poverty- related diseases, hereby express our strong condemnation of the request..

14/11/2017

2 days left - sign our petition urging health ministers meeting in Moscow to treat TB according to international medical standards!

Tuberculosis (TB) kills one person every 18 seconds, yet it can be prevented, treated, and cured. Your support helps strengthen our call for governments to take critical action to stop people dying from this preventable disease.

23/10/2017

Joseph Stiglitz, nobel prize winner in economics, arguing about the need to review IP laws to ensure access to medicines.

The current regime is unsustainable. Emerging economies are right to lead the pushback against patenting standards

28/07/2017

Today is the
In Europe, an estimated 9 million Europeans are living with chronic hepatitis B or C and large numbers are not even aware of their infection.
Time to recall that the Parliament urge to put in place an EU-wide harmonised infection surveillance programme.
Objective: eradicate hepatitis C in the EU by 2030

10/07/2017

G20 Leaders´ are calling for access to affordable and quality antimicrobials, vaccines and diagnostics, including through efforts to preserve existing therapeutic options. They highlight the importance of fostering R&D, in particular for priority pathogens as identified by the WHO and tuberculosis.

23/06/2017

The EPWG expressed concern over conflicts of interest in an IMI project
"“This is yet another worrisome development arising from an IMI project which casts a strange light on the nebulous arrangements the pharmaceutical industry seems to secure from the public sector stakeholders as a condition for their participation" stated Nessa Childers, the Chair of the EPWG

The European Parliament Working Group on Innovation, Access to Medicines and Poverty-Related Diseases (EPWG) expressed concern over conflicts of interest in yet another project funded by the world&..

19/06/2017

Lively and interesting debate this morning in Malta, on the side of the ACP EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, about "Meeting SDG3: Removing barriers to access to medicines in the fight against infectious diseases". Many progress have been made in the past, but many challenges remain ahead of us. Let's work together in partnership! Anna Zaborska The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

16/06/2017

Join us for a breakfast event on Monday 19 June - 8:30 in Malta, on the side of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. We will discuss "Meeting SDG 3: Removing Barriers to Access to Medicines in the Fight against Infectious Diseases" . Among the speakers, representatives from The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria European Parliament European Commission

08/06/2017

"Improving access to more costly medicines is at the core of discussions over how best to deliver universal health coverage."

Lack of access is a problem that affects rich and poor countries alike