With the threat of suspension of work looming, the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee of the Law of Patents (SCP) agreed to a minimal programme of work, which includes exceptions and limitations to patent rights, quality of patents, and patents and health. Delegates made significant concessions on all sides, but the Africa Group expressed particular disappointment in the limited commitment to work on the patents and health topic.

Johannesburg, South Africa – There are strong indications that South Africa may join – and lead the charge – in the establishment of the controversial Pan-African Intellectual Property Office (PAIPO).

The role of intellectual property in a wide range of public health challenges – access to medicines, vaccine prices, procurement strategies, and research for diseases of the poor – is a focal point in 2013 cutting across national, regional, and international policymaking.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today launched a new funding model that allows it to invest more strategically, achieve greater impact, and engage implementers and partners more effectively.

A nevirapine-based antiretroviral regimen failed to attain noninferiority with an efavirenz (EFV) regimen in a randomized trial of Mozambican adults being treated for tuberculosis and starting their first antiretroviral combination.

Objective

Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR) announced today that it has been awarded a grant of up to $21.6 million and debt financing of up to $20.6 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The $21.6 million grant will fund the development of a tuberculosis assay, which will be designed for use in both resource-constrained and well-resourced settings. It will also support the company's efforts to incorporate one of its isothermal amplification technologies for TB detection onto the Alere™ Q, a compact, portable, and robust device intended for molecular testing at the point of care. In addition, the Gates Foundation will provide below-market loans of up to $20.6 million for the expansion and scale up of Alere's manufacturing facilities in Jena, Germany for both the POC TB Nucleic Acid Test and the POC HIV Viral Load Test currently in the final stages of development. The Gates Foundation will provide these loans in exchange for commitments from Alere to make these diagnostics available at an affordable price to people in need in developing countries.

Rates of AIDS-defining illnesses in the first year of antiretroviral therapy are significantly higher among migrant than non-migrant populations in resource-rich countries, investigators report in the online edition of AIDS. The difference was mainly driven by higher rates of tuberculosis (TB) among migrant populations. The results of the study show the importance of screening people for TB before commencing HIV therapy, say the investigators.

27 February, MIDRAND – Yesterday, TAC activists picketed at the Africa Intellectual Property (IP) Forum and handed over a memorandum to Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, before his keynote address. Activists were demanding that the draft IP policy, that will lead to patent law reform, be made public.

The health of a nation is priceless. However, money is required to treat undermined health, and the lack of money is directly related to the growth of such terrible disease as tuberculosis (TB). Every year, between 8 million and 10 million people get infected with TB worldwide. “Poor people are usually infected with this disease,” said Myrzakhat Imanaliyev, the head of Kyrgyzstan’s National TB Center. “Those at risk include people with poor housing conditions (overcrowding, poor ventilation), who do not get proper nourishment, people with weak immunity, limited access to health services, labor migrants, the unemployed, and prisoners. Only 8-10% of the results depend on doctors, and the remaining are social conditions.”