Press

For Immediate Release

Kim Cunningham, American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
pr [at] amsa [dot] org

Ethan Guillen, Director, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM)
ethan [dot] guillen [at] essentialmedicine [dot] org

ACTIVISTS APPLAUD SEN. MIKULSKI PUSH FOR AFFORDABLE SCREENING FOR WOMEN BUT ASK: WILL YOU SUPPORT AFFORDABLE TREATMENT WITH AN EFFECTIVE GENERIC BIOLOGICS PATHWAY?

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Jake Izenberg (jacob dot izenberg at yale dot edu)

Hundreds of Students, Scholars, and Experts to Gather at Yale Access to Medicine Conference
UAEM National Conference to Be Held November 14, 15

After years of UAEM campaigning, 6 universities, AUTM and NIH have agreed to access principles for licensing and patenting. While we are enthusiastic about the adoption of these principles and while the authors deserve praise for taking this important step, the document has important shortcomings, noted below. UAEM sees this document as a floor for future policies rather than a ceiling and we hope that other universities will go further still. We look forward to working with signatories to the document to ensure effective implementation and improvements in the months and years to come.

July 20, 2009

Dear Senator or Representative,

Congressional consideration of healthcare reform has two overriding goals: expand health coverage to the uninsured, and contain costs. It is widely understood that the first goal cannot be achieved absent success with the second objective.

It is therefore vital that Congress take steps to lower the price of the most expensive drug treatments, rather than aid Big Pharma and the biotech industry's ability to price gouge consumers and the government. For this reason, we urge you to support the Promoting Innovation and Life Savings Medicines Act, H.R. 1427 and reject attempts to pass other biologics legislation that will leave affordable care out of reach.

Download a PDF of the letter
Download a PDF of the press release

July 14, 2009

Robert M. Berdahl
President
American Association of Universities
1200 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20005

RE: June 3, 2009 AAU Endorsement of Eshoo-Inslee-Barton Follow-on Biologics Bill

Dear Dr. Berdahl,

Download a pdf of the press release

Download the April 16, 2009 UAEM letter to AAU

Read the November 12, 2008 AAU response to our initial letter

Read our original October 15, 2008 letter to AAU

Read AAU's June 10, 2008 endorsement of the Eshoo-Barton legislation

Read AAU's May 2, 2008 comment on the legislation

Contact: Eleanor Blume
Phone: (781) 640-7750
Email: eleanor dot blume at gmail dot com

For Immediate Release

AAU ONCE AGAIN ENDORSES LEGISLATION THAT WILL IMPEDE ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE BIOLOGIC DRUGS

UAEM CALLS ON AAU TO WITHDRAW SUPPORT

The Association of American Universities (AAU) has once again endorsed legislation, (newly numbered H.R. 1548 in the new Congress), that would impede access to lower-cost follow-on biologics such as vaccines and cancer treatments. The AAU previously declined to withdraw its endorsement from H.R. 5629 of the previous Congress, the “Pathway for Biosimilars Acts,” following a call to do so from Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM). The new bill, as with the previous one, would effectively increase the length of patents on biologic drugs by allowing market registration data exclusivity of up to 14.5 years, delaying the onset of cheaper follow-on biologics while inhibiting patent challenges and impeding access to these essential medicines. This is in contrast to the normal five years of market registration data exclusivity currently in place for small-molecule drugs. Alternative legislation proposed by a bi-partisan group from the House and Senate includes more reasonable terms of data exclusivity is now available.

UAEM has argued that this obviously commercially-motivated provision is not in line with the non-profit mission of the university.