Public health advocates say that commercial concerns must take a back seat to health interests if COVID-19 technologies are to be made available to those who need them. But industry says that relaxing IP protections is not the solution and that many companies have already invested significant amounts of money in potential new treatments and vaccines.

Recommending new medicines for approval and allowing sponsors of others extra time to answer outstanding questions are among the many tasks on the agenda of the March meeting of European Medicines Agency's key scientific committee, the CHMP. The meeting has been taking place, remotely, this week.

Intellectual property rights are under the microscope as countries prepare to provide affordable and timely access to pandemic technologies.

Analysts believe that pan-EU authorization for Intercept Pharmaceuticals’ obeticholic acid for advanced fibrosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis may come in the first quarter of 2021.

Mithra says its new oral contraceptive could be a major breakthrough in a “space where there hasn’t been any innovation in decades."

The R&D based pharmaceutical industry would welcome changes to guidelines that will operationalize controversial new pricing regulations in Canada but industry experts say more is needed.