26 April 2019
Esteban Burrone, Head of Policy at the Medicines Patent Pool, wrote a chapter in The Cambridge Handbook of Public-Private Partnerships, Intellectual Property Governance, and Sustainable Development where he discusses patent pooling in public health and the case of the MPP.
See a description of chapter five below:
Public health patent pools represent an innovative type of Public-Private Partnership that can contribute to improving universal health coverage, which is an important focus of the Sustainable Development Goals. In the case of the Medicines Patent Pool, patent pooling enables the management of privately-held intellectual property rights in the public interest. It accelerates access to affordable medicines in low- and middle-income countries and facilitates the development of new formulations.
Access chapter five “Patent Pooling in Public Health” by Esteban Burrone
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.