Advocates Say the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Could Prevent Access to Life-Saving Medications for Millions

TheBody.com | Barbara Jungwirth | September 28, 2015

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed trade agreement among the United States and 11 other nations around the Pacific Ocean: Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and Brunei Darussalam. Negotiations of this agreement have been conducted in secret, but some of the proposed text has been leaked, including the chapter on intellectual property rights and patent protections.



Rachel, a woman living with HIV in Peru, states in the video below: "Because of competition and generic medications, the price of my treatment has dropped from US$10,000 to US$150 per year." The video says that the TPP patent protection provision would mean "more monopolies, less competition, fewer generic medications, that is: higher prices." One of the participants in the video calls such price increases "a luxury' she cannot afford.

The current proposal for the intellectual property chapter prohibits signatory countries from approving generic or biosimilar medications for eight years after a brand-name drug has been approved. Advocates say such a delay would deny people living with cancer, HIV and other serious medical conditions access to affordable life-saving medications. This, in turn, could affect the lives -- indeed, the very survival -- of millions of people in the developing world, according to Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF). Judit Rius Sanjuan, MSF's U.S. manager explains:

"Pharmaceutical companies already enjoy some of the highest profit margins and longest monopoly protections of any industry, and granting them extended and additional market exclusivity is just another way to delay price-lowering competition and keep medicines out of reach of MSF medical operations and millions of people."

A multinational campaign against the provision is collecting signatures on a petition to be delivered to the next (and possibly final) TPP meeting to be held September 30-October 2 in Atlanta, GA. The petition is available online. The campaign has also assembled statements from people living in countries that would be affected by this chapter of the agreement...snip
http://www.thebody.com/content/76476/oppose-the-patent-protection-provision-in-the-tpp-.html


#TPPkills - Peruvian Patients Speak Out
Published on Sep 23, 2015
Nuestra salud NO es negociable with English subtitles

Sep 30: Activists at Atlanta TPP Trade Negotiations


Published on Sep 30, 2015

Trade Activists
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPQX2EGr33pwD_i3c2pdRcw

Source: The Washington Post

The Obama administration is aiming to wrap up talks this week on an expansive Asia-Pacific free-trade accord between the United States and 11 other nations, starting the clock toward a vote in Congress by early next year.

The prospect of the pact coming up on Capitol Hill in the midst of the U.S. presidential campaign has created fresh uncertainty about the prospects of success for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would represent the largest U.S. trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993. President Obama has called it central to his economic and foreign policy agendas.

Negotiators from the 12 nations are gathering in Atlanta with the goal of reaching a final agreement among countries that account for 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product. Among them are Japan, Australia, Mexico and Canada. The pact would lower tariffs on beef, dairy products and automobiles, while setting up new regulatory provisions on pharmaceuticals, financial services and online commerce...

...“We can promote growth through trade that meets a higher standard,” Obama said. “And that’s what we’re doing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a trade agreement that encompasses nearly 40 percent of the global economy; an agreement that will open markets while protecting the rights of workers and protecting the environment that enables development to be sustained.”...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-hopes-talks-lead-to-final-deal-on-asia-pacific-free-trade-accord/2015/09/29/1b5508aa-65f4-11e5-9223-70cb36460919_story.html

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USTR Releases Detailed Summary of TPP Objectives
https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2015/september/ustr-releases-detailed-summary

To view USTR’s most recent Detailed Summary of U.S Objectives in TPP, please click here (PDF)
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/TPP-Detailed-Summary-of-US-Objectives.pdf

Forbes.com | Bill Tucker | Sep 29, 2015

One of the first things we learn in science class is that elements occupy three states; solid, liquid, gas. Materials can transform between states, but it typically takes great energy to create that transformation. So, when I learned about an energy company which had developed a proprietary process that combines hydrogen-rich material with a polymer to create a solid form of hydrogen it caught my attention. Best of all, for the hydrogen to be released from that polymer is only needs to be heated to 100ºF. It is plastic energy. Oh, and those pellets can be recycled to be reused again.

The company taking hydrogen plastic is Cella Energy. Cella is a hydrogen fuel cell company offering something very different in the market, a unique way of delivering fuel to hydrogen generators: pellets. Pellets you can hold safely in your hand but more importantly, transport safely. There are plenty of skeptics surrounding the promise of this technology, but Cella is hardly some fly-by-night company. Its list of investors & partners is impressive and includes several aerospace companies as well as the University of Oxford and the British Government.



As regular readers know, I find small change compelling. Big change is rare and never goes un-noticed, but small change zips right under the radar little noticed, or reported, but it is all the small changes that cumulate in substantial change. In many ways, that is what Cella seems to be counting on.

Cella’s CEO, Alex Sorokin, tells me that the company is focusing most of its effort in the area of what he terms portable power, for the moment. Sorokin explained the reason for the decision, saying Cella’s technology is particularly well suited to supply power to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones as they are more commonly known. Hydrogen fuel cells are three times as energy dense as lithium-ion batteries, weigh far less and can be made to conform to any design specification and can significantly increase the time a drone can stay in the air. The facts are so compelling that the company recently signed a contract to supply Israel Aerospace Industries with its hydrogen fuel cell batteries for IAI’s medium-sized UAVs.

Because of the light weight of Cella’s batteries...snip
MORE: http://www.forbes.com/sites/billtucker/2015/09/29/hydrogen-goes-plastic-fantastic/

BBC Horizon: Cella Energy



Cella Energy
Tomorrow's Hydrogen Economy... Today
http://cellaenergy.com/

Clean Technica | September 29th, 2015 | Tina Casey

Like the US, China has been slow to adopt fuel cell electric vehicles, but it looks like things are stepping up in a big way. The cities of Foshan and Yunfu are jumping into the lead with a $17 million order for 300 fuel cell electric buses, just announced by the Canadian company Ballard Power Systems through its Chinese licensee, Guangdong Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology Co., Ltd.



Last June, Bloomberg reported on another Ballard deal for 33 fuel cell modules for buses in Yunfu and another city, Rugao, and the company is also partnering up with the Tangshan Railway Vehicle Company to develop fuel cell modules for trams.

Fuel Cell Vehicles & China

So… that was fast. The only other big fuel cell EV news coming out of China this year was a three-car publicity tour staged by the state-owned auto manufacturer SAIC. However, there have been some signs of movement since China showcased a fleet of only 20 fuel cell cars and three buses for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Two years later, at the Shanghai World Expo, the country showed off 90 fuel cell cars, 6 buses, and 100 tourist vehicles, and our sister site Gas2.org has noted that fuel cell vehicles are routinely included in China’s tax breaks for green vehicles.

In 2012, our friends over at Fuel Cell Today took a close look at China’s R&D program for fuel cell electric vehicles and hydrogen in China and reached this conclusion:

“Financial support from the Chinese government is strong with fuel cells identified as a key future technology and funded accordingly. Chinese companies throughout the supply chain from catalysts to membranes and system integrators to end users are all driving fuel cell adoption leading China to become an international competitor.”

Speaking of hydrogen, the Fuel Cell Today report also dives into China’s clean energy investments, specifically wind and solar. That’s a key issue...snip
Read More: https://cleantechnica.com/2015/09/29/boom-china-adds-333-fuel-cell-electric-buses/

Tina Casey writes about Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Follow Tina on Twitter https://twitter.com/TinaMCasey

Ballard Lands $17M Deal For Deployment of ~300 Fuel Cell Buses in China

• Largest ever global deployment of fuel cell buses
• Deal includes deployment of new 30kW & 60kW power modules
• Localization of module assembly, with recurring royalties
http://www.ballard.com/about-ballard/newsroom/news-releases/news09251501.aspx

International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy
An International Vision for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
http://www.iphe.net/

The Andrew Marr Show is an hour-long British television programme broadcast on BBC One on Sunday mornings from 9am. It is presented by Andrew Marr, previously the BBC's Political Editor. The host interviews political figures and others involved in the current events of the week.

It replaced the long-running Breakfast with Frost programme when David Frost decided to retire in 2005. The programme begins with a review of the Sunday papers, for which Marr is joined by two or three different guests each week. It also features BBC News and BBC Weather updates.

Source: The Canadian Press

ATLANT, Ga. – Negotiations on the TransPacific Partnership, a massive free-trade proposal involving Canada and 11 other nations, will resume in Atlanta, Georgia today.

Chief negotiators from the 12 countries, which have a combined population of 800 million people, will hold sessions through to Tuesday. And those meetings will set the stage for further talks involving TPP trade ministers on Wednesday, Sept., 29 and Thursday, Oct., 30.

Canada’s supply management system has been a significant sore point in the ongoing negotiations.

The United States and New Zealand, in particular, have been pressuring Canada to reduce its tariffs on foreign dairy products, which are among the highest of all TPP members...

Read more: http://www.news1130.com/2015/09/26/transpacific-partnership-trade-negotiations-resume-in-atlanta/

Karl Schwarz: “No statute of limitations on treason or murder!”

http://noliesradio.org/archives/104296
Broadcast on September 21, 2015.

Karl Schwarz is a Republican tech-sector businessman who refused to drink the neocon kool-aid. An early and outspoken 9/11 truth supporter, he is one of our most eloquent voices calling out the neoconservatives for their 9/11 coup d’état and the disastrous series of wars it triggered.

In this interview Karl discusses Zionist involvement in 9/11, enabled in part by the “back doors” built into US communications networks by Israeli companies; Rebekah Roth’s discovery of boxes full of demolition switches brought into the World Trade Center before 9/11 by the Israeli-connected Gelatin “art students”; dancing Israelis‘ spymaster Dominik Suter‘s role in financing 9/11; Dynport Vaccine Company’s likely role in the anthrax component of the 9/11-anthrax operation as well as its poisoning US troops with huge numbers of dangerous, unnecessary, highly profitable vaccines; and much more.

Karl Schwarz: 9/11 truth is a nonpartisan issue



"I am not proud to call myself a republican these days"-Karl Schwarz

Feb 24, 2006: Author, businessman and Republican turned Independent Karl Schwarz, demonstrates that the search for 9/11 truth is a nonpartisan issue. Mr. Schwartz provides interesting behind-the-scenes details of the players and events on the global scene.

Episode 369 -9/11/2015 – In this edition we observe the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attack alongside researcher and author Christopher Bollyn; followed by the return of Rebekah Roth as she brings lots of new information concerning the aforementioned Methodical Deception.



9/11 BOMBSHELL: Methodical Deception -- Rebekah Roth



Published on Sep 10, 2015

Former flight attendant turned researcher, truth teller and author Rebekah Roth joins SGTreport.com on the 14th anniversary of 9/11 to discuss her new book 'Methodical Deception', the follow up to her very popular first book 'Methodical Illusion'. Both books are available at http://www.methodicaldeception.com

In this interview Rebekah drops some bombshells that prove not only that 9/11 was a false flag event long in the planning, but that the operation leads directly back to companies and intelligence assets deeply rooted in and connected to the state of Israel. In fact, some of the information shared in this remarkable interview is so critical for every American to understand that if you don't want to listen to the full interview, at least make sure you fast forward to the 31:20 mark.

Because as Rebekah says, "This is the elephant in the room that nobody wanted to talk about." The pictures you will see and the information you will hear may well shock you to your core. Share it with your friends and family. Every single American citizen should know the truth about what happened on 9/11 and the months leading up to it - and who the REAL culprits were.

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The rumors of the death of 911 Truth Seekers are premature, as more and more people question 9/11 every day.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals argues federal government cannot limit price of blood disease medication

CBC News Posted: Sep 24, 2015

A U.S. drug company is taking the Canadian government to court for its attempt to lower the price of what has been called the world's most expensive drug.

'This is the single greatest threat to pricing of drugs in Canada ever.'
- Amir Attaran, health law expert

Alexion Pharmaceuticals has filed a motion in Federal Court, arguing that Canada's drug price watchdog has no authority to force the company to lower its price for Soliris



The company says in the court documents that the price of Soliris has not changed since it went on the market about six years ago and that the price difference between the two countries reflects the difference in exchange rates between the U.S. and Canada.

The medication is approved to treat two rare blood diseases that affect about one in every one million people. A 12-month treatment costs about $700,000 in Canada, while in the U.S. it costs about $669,000...snip

...The company has not yet returned calls for comment.
MORE: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/u-s-drug-company-sues-canada-for-trying-to-lower-cost-of-700k-a-year-drug-1.3242172

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Analysis: How pharmaceutical company Alexion set the price of the world's most expensive drug

Cost of one of world's most expensive drugs shrouded in corporate secrecy

By Kelly Crowe, CBC News Posted: Jun 25, 2015

What if your life depended on a drug that cost half a million dollars a year, every year, for the foreseeable future?

That's the price of Soliris, one of the world's most expensive drugs.

It is the only medicine available for people suffering from two ultra-rare diseases: paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome (AHUS)...

So how can one drug cost more than the annual income of all but a tiny percentage of households?

The reason is locked in the so-called "black box" of orphan drug pricing, where actual research and development costs are carefully guarded secrets known only to drug company executives...
More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/how-pharmaceutical-company-alexion-set-the-price-of-the-world-s-most-expensive-drug-1.3125251

Washington, D.C. –The Office of the United States Trade Representative today released a detailed summary of the most recent U.S. negotiating objectives on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The report, coupled with a recent update on progress made in negotiations at a July ministerial meeting in Hawaii, are part of continued Administration efforts to make trade negotiations accessible and transparent to the public and their representatives in Congress. The steps USTR has taken were in line with provisions included in the bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority bill passed earlier this year.

“This report is a detailed look at what we are fighting for at the TPP negotiating table to help unlock opportunity for U.S. workers, farmers, and businesses,” said Ambassador Froman. “We have taken Congress’s marching orders through bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority and our ongoing consultations seriously and are following through on delivering the high standard deal Congress and the American people expect.”

“This is another in a series of steps this Administration has taken to share information at every step of the TPP negotiating process,” said Chief Transparency Officer Tim Reif. “Through detailed summaries, a robust congressional consultation process, outreach to a more diverse set of stakeholders, and public input on negotiating aims, we continue to build a more open and transparent negotiation process. We are always looking to do more, and appreciate the important steps taken on transparency in the Trade Promotion Authority law.”

To view USTR’s most recent Detailed Summary of U.S Objectives in TPP, please click here: (PDF)
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/TPP-Detailed-Summary-of-US-Objectives.pdf

https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2015/september/ustr-releases-detailed-summary

United States to Host Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta

Washington, D.C. - The United States will host a meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade Ministers in Atlanta, GA from September 30th – October 1st preceded by a meeting of TPP Chief Negotiators from September 26th-29th. Trade Ministers and negotiators last met in July and have been making good progress toward resolving the limited number of outstanding issues.

NOTE: Working members of the media can register to participate in the open press events of the TPP Ministerial by RSVPing here. All press registration must be received no later than 6:00pm ET on Monday, September 28.
https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2015/september/united-states-host-trans-pacific



The TPP is about to be finalized. And the US media is nowhere to be found. This "agreement" was not mentioned in either debate so far. Did Fox and CNN forget it? Sure they did. Good Luck!