20 March 2016
Geneva, March 21, 2016 — I am pleased to announce that Sigrun Møgedal has agreed to assume the position of chair of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) Governance Board, effective immediately. Sigrun, a long-time member of the Board, takes over the reins from Charles Clift, the founding chair, who served the foundation well during its first five years as a Swiss foundation. Under Charles’ guidance, the MPP has grown from a nascent organisation working to improve access to HIV medicines to a solid partner in the access to medicines community with public health licences for 13 medicines and more than 50 product development projects ongoing. Charles will remain on the Board and continue to provide valuable counsel during the next phase as we expand our mandate into the new treatment areas of hepatitis C and tuberculosis.
Dr. Sigrun Møgedal, Special Adviser with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, is a medical doctor, former Ambassador for HIV/AIDS and Global Health Initiatives for Norway, and former Chair of the Board for the Global Health Workforce Alliance at the World Health Organization. She was previously senior advisor to the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), and senior policy adviser to the Executive Director of UNAIDS. We thank Charles for his service to the foundation and Sigrun for agreeing to step in as his successor.
Greg Perry
Press and Media
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to and facilitate the development of life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries. Through its innovative business model, MPP partners with civil society, governments, international organisations, industry, patient groups, and other stakeholders to prioritise and license needed medicines and pool intellectual property to encourage generic manufacture and the development of new formulations.
To date, MPP has signed agreements with 22 patent holders for 13 HIV antiretrovirals, one HIV technology platform, three hepatitis C direct-acting antivirals, a tuberculosis treatment, a cancer treatment, four long-acting technologies, a post-partum haemorrhage medicine, three oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19 and 16 COVID-19 technologies.
MPP was founded by Unitaid, which continues to be MPP’s main funder. MPP’s work on access to essential medicines is also funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Government of Canada, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Government of Flanders. MPP’s activities in COVID-19 are undertaken with the financial support of the Japanese Government, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the German Agency for International Cooperation, and SDC.