[Ip-health] WIPO (Press Release): WIPO Contributes Expertise in International Dialogue on Avian Flu

Tue Nov 27 11:48:01 2007

http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2007/article_0083.html

http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/lifesciences/ip_health.html

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WIPO Contributes Expertise in International Dialogue on Avian Flu

Geneva, November 16, 2007
PR/2007/529

At the request of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has offered its expertise
and technical input on patent issues as they relate to influenza
viruses and their genes. A technical WIPO report on this question
will serve as one input to WHO=92s Intergovernmental Meeting on Pandemic
Influenza Preparedness: Sharing of Influenza Viruses and Access to
Vaccines and other Benefits, which will meet in Geneva from 20-23
November 2007.

WHO, as the lead international agency for public health matters, deals
with a host of international issues relating to flu virus surveillance
and the preparation and distribution of flu vaccines, and is
coordinating the international response to the threat of a flu
pandemic. Earlier this year, the World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a
key resolution on =93Pandemic influenza preparedness: sharing of
influenza viruses and access to vaccines and other benefits=94 (WHA
60.28). This resolution called for a study on =93the patent issues
related to influenza viruses and their genes=94 in the context of a
broad set of actions for influenza pandemic preparedness, the sharing
of influenza viruses, access to vaccines and other benefits.

The WIPO secretariat is assisting the WHO secretariat to help clarify
relevant technical patent-related issues raised by the debate. This is
in line with WIPO=92s cooperation responsibilities within the UN system,
and the Organization being the UN specialized agency on intellectual
property. This work is undertaken by the program on life sciences
established within WIPO to provide this kind of technical and
practical support, including when it is sought by policymakers in
other international bodies and processes. WIPO=92s technical work in
this area is intended to be supportive of and responsive to the
essential work undertaken by the WHO as the key agency on matters
relating to public health.

WIPO=92s ongoing technical-level contributions to the international
dialogue on avian flu issues are progressively unfolding on three
fronts:

(i)         a technical study on a number of  specific patent issues
prepared in response to the WHO=92s request. This study seeks to
explain, in a way that is accessible and relevant to health
policymakers, the technical side of the patent system as it relates to
the flu virus;
(ii)        work on illuminating the =93patent landscape=94. This involves
the search for practical answers to guide health policymakers in
identifying what is actually being patented, where and by whom, and
with what implications for virus sharing and vaccine development and
production. This further aims to bridge the gap between a complex and
rapidly evolving body of patent data and the needs of international
health policymakers;
(iii)       a more general practical review of the issues which seeks
to put all of these elements into a broader context and to provide
health policymakers with a comprehensive factual resource on IP
matters as they relate to public health.

This technical-level work does not advocate any specific
recommendations or policy options. The responsibility to determine the
appropriate responses and mechanisms to safeguard public health rests
with public health policymakers. WIPO=92s technical contribution is
designed to provide useful background information to buttress the
efforts of health policymakers as they set future directions for a
global response that may help pre-empt and contain a potential public
health crisis. It further aims to provide a neutral technical
background for the important international discussion of these broader
public policy issues.

In addition, WIPO is hosting the third in a series of public symposia
on the life sciences and intellectual property on Friday, November 16,
2007 on the theme "Intellectual Property and Life Sciences
Regulation."  WIPO=92s Symposia on Life Sciences and Intellectual
Property Policy provide an opportunity to examine intellectual
property as it relates to the life sciences. They are designed to
build understanding among a wide range of stakeholders (including
international policy-makers, government agencies, legislators,
delegates, civil society and the private sector) both of the practical
use of the intellectual property system in the life sciences area and
its impact on this rapidly evolving field by providing a forum for
exchanging information and ideas. The program of the forthcoming event
and information on the full series of WIPO Life Sciences Symposia are
available at http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/lifesciences/.

For more information please contact the Media Relations and Public
Affairs Section at WIPO:

     *             Tel.:                  +4122-3388161 or +4122-3389547
     *             Fax:                  +4122-3388280
     *             Email:              publicinf@wipo.int

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org

Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997