Replies to post #64190 on NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[DoGood_DoWell]

Good point - that question is not explained in the article, but I found another more balanced article that agrees with your point, with this exception:

“It is shameful for anyone to link the outcome of a compulsory license, based on a country’s health needs, to the outcome of a process of peace and reconciliation in a country that has faced unspeakable violence, yet this is raised in the memo,” said Andrew Goldman, legal affairs and policy counsel at Knowledge Ecology International, which released the letter.

“Novartis has profited enough from Colombia, and Senator Orin Hatch (who heads the Senate Finance Committee) and USTR have no business defending the patent interests of a Swiss pharmaceutical company over the lives of cancer patients in Colombia.”

https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2016/05/11/obama-novartis-patents/

[exwannabe]

Did they have an international patent that should apply in Columbia?

Have no clue (nor do I care) what the patent status is in Columbia. But here in US, Gleevec is already going generic.

I find it difficult to believe that Hatch's puppy dog can rationally argue that Columbia is acting as a global IP infringer there, when the US is allowing the exact same generic.

Disagree with the article on the NIH development issue though. It takes a hell of a lot of effort and cash to get a drug through the process. This was virtually all provided by the company after the initial work. The US has some rights due to such, but should not be involved here (either way).

BTW, the US law that facilitated the generic being on the market this soon in the US? Hatch-Waxman Act.

[CaptainObvious]

Has Gleevic come off exclusive rights? If not then I can see the govt reaction