TORONTO, CANADA (October 13, 2015).- Jim Keon, President of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA) and Chair of the IGBA, announced at the IGBA Conference in Toronto that the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (IGBA) will register as an association in Geneva, Switzerland. The legal incorporation strengthens existing informal links with international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

1 October 2015 – A unique international tool criminalizing the trade of counterfeit medicines, the Medicrime Convention, will enter into force on 1st January 2016, after 5 countries[1] out of its 24 signatories completed the ratification process. The Medicrime Convention, launched by the Council of Europe in December 2010 is opened for signature by all countries in the world and aims to curb what it defines as counterfeit (falsified) medicines[2], that is medicines whose identity and/or source have been falsely represented.

June 30, 2015 – The International Generic Pharmaceutical Alliance (IGPA) urges negotiators for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) not to abandon the needs of millions of the world’s citizens for access to affordable medicines.