Biotechnology news from around the world.
- EU parliament votes to extend paediatric drug patents
- European countries announce US$4 billion vaccines scheme
EU parliament votes to extend paediatric drug patents
September 7 – The European parliament has voted to extend drug patent protection for pharmaceutical companies researching child medications by six months, in an effort to encourage research and development of drugs designed for children. According to the European Commission, which made the initial proposal, the extra patent protection could be worth up to 9 million euros in net profits per drug. Standard drug patents in Europe last for 15 years. While the drug industry had pushed for a 12 month extension for paediatric products, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) welcomed the outcome in a statement. A parliament spokesperson said the new rules could be in place by 2006 if the Commission and EU states also gave it approval.
[Source: Reuters]
European countries announce US$4 billion vaccines scheme
September 9 – Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden have committed US$4 billion over the next ten years to a new program to provide vaccines to millions of children in developing countries. The International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) has been set up as a pilot scheme to support the work of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), an alliance of all the major stakeholders in immunisation, including developing countries and donor governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialised and developing countries, research and technical agencies and NGOs. IFFIm will issue bonds against donor pledges in order to make funds available for immunisation programs more quickly. This "frontloading" approach is aimed to overcome problems of immunization efforts in recent years associated with a lack of stable, predictable and coordinated cash flows.
[Sources: Reuters, International Finance Facility for Immunisation]
