FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sara Crager
sara[dot]crager[at]yale[dot]edu

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

University Officials Fight Innovative Measures to Increase Access to Medicines

In advance of a crucial WHO meeting, industry lobbyists – supported by the Association of University Technology Managers – oppose plans to promote innovative mechanisms to reduce the prices of life-saving medicines

The student organization UAEM and patient advocates demand that Universities make good on their commitment to the public interest

Cambridge, Mass. – In advance of a crucial World Health Organization meeting that begins on Monday, the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) is urging its members to sign a statement – written by the foot-soldiers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries – that opposes creative funding mechanisms, such as prize funds, that could increase innovation and access to life-saving medicines, particularly in the developing world.

In response, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines has called on the technology managers at 35 research institutions to reject AUTM’s offensive and counterproductive message. Jon Soderstrom, AUTM’s new president and the chief technology transfer officer of Yale, is a specific target. Through e-mails, phone calls, and hand-delivered letters, students will argue on Wednesday and throughout the week that the success of the WHO negotiations is crucial to the health of billions of people. The meetings present one of the few real opportunities for the concerns of people in the developing world to be heard alongside those of rich countries and multinational corporations.

“AUTM’s actions are shameful and place universities in direct opposition to the poor and suffering in the developing world,” said law student Ady Barkan, a member of UAEM at Yale. “Yale should take a lead in ensuring access to medicines throughout the world or at least get out of the way of those who are looking for novel ways to fix a broken system.”

The letter that AUTM is distributing was written by the Institution for Policy Innovation (IPI), an anti-access think tank that mimics the talking points of PhARMA and BIO, and refuses to disclose its donors. Dozens of universities – institutions of learning committed to the creation of knowledge for the benefit of society – have made strongly worded commitments to access. But they have followed their words with little action. Only a handful of universities have taken concrete steps toward adopting humanitarian policies that would ensure access to university-developed medicines in the developing world.

UAEM has called on the university technology managers to show their support for the WHO process by:

1) Refusing to sign onto IPI’s letter or removing her or his name if s/he has already signed it.
2) Demanding that AUTM retract its support of the IPI letter
3) Demanding that AUTM take concrete steps to adopt policies regarding the funding and licensing of the fruits of university research that serve the public good and ensure access alongside innovation

Contrary to the claims of the IPI, the global health system is failing billions of people who suffer without treatment. According to a UN report, 10 million people die each year because they lack access to existing medicines.

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Download our letter to AUTM members

Message from AUTM to Members

From the April 16, 2008 “AUTM Update” sent by “AUTM Headquarters”

* Sign the Institute for Policy Innovation’s Open Letter to the World Health Organization*
The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) is requesting signatures for an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) in advance of the WHO’s Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property.

Prize systems, a medical R&D treaty, and compulsory patent pools are being advocated as alternatives to patents and IP protections at the April 28 meeting. These solutions could pose a challenge to our current and very successful system of innovation and tech transfer. The open letter urges WHO delegates and member governments to bear in mind the importance of patents and IPRs in the successful development, commercialization and distribution of medical innovation. This letter will be published as a full page advertisement in a major international newspaper a few days before the IGWG process resumes on April 28. To add your institution to the letter, email IPI President Tom Giovanetti at _tomg@ipi.org_ . Include your name, title and affiliation as you wish it to be listed.