Prize or patent? Innovative ideas for funding medical drug development ...( The Maastricht Economic and social R...),Health

The Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT) and the United Nations University Office in New York (UNU-ONY) are co-organizing a forum on monetary prizes as an alternative to binding patents as a means of encouraging medical drug development.

The objective of the forum Prize or Patent? is to explore whether, and how, prizes could be used to direct pharmacuetical research to more socially beneficial ends. Prizes may be used, for example, to promote research into diseases that primarily effect the poor (malaria, tuberculosis, etc.), or to ensure that drugs, once developed, are freely available and not limited only to those who can afford the high prices charged by patent holders.

Speakers will include:

• Jamie Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)

• Kalipso Chalkidou, Associate Director of Research and Development, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE, UK)

• A.E. Ogwell, Head of International Relations, Ministry of Health, Kenya

• Dilip Shah, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance

• Rishab Aiyer Ghosh, Head, Collaborative Creativity Group, UNU-MERIT

Date, time and place:
March 20 2008, 3:00 pm 5:30 pm
Conference Room 7, UN Headquarters, New york

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