22 January 2021
Speaker: Mila Maistat
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the report. We note that the document mentions the challenge of access to safe, appropriate, effective and quality-assured health products for cancer and orphan diseases.
Given that cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, with approximately 70% of deaths from cancer occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), it is alarming to see the challenges that remain in having access to treatments for people in need.
As a global health community, we are still a long way from having sustainable access mechanisms that work in oncology and could deliver some of the new breakthrough treatments for cancer at affordable prices in LMICs. This is particularly true if compared to the achievements in terms of timely access to innovative drugs for communicable diseases. The challenge concerns new small molecule treatments and is even a bigger for biologics, let alone cell- and gene-therapies.
MPP is now working to apply its partnership model based on voluntary licensing with industry in non-communicable diseases, including cancer, to leverage its positive experience in HIV and viral hepatitis. As a first step, as mentioned by the paper, we have included new essential cancer medicines on our free patent database MedsPaL.
Being aware of the urgent demand from Member States for affordable cancer treatments, MPP stands ready to support WHO, Member States and other stakeholders to address the overarching challenge posed by the growing burden of cancer in LMICs.
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The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) welcomes the report and is committed to contributing further to the Strategy implementation, including in the context of Recommendation 18 of the Review panel.
MPP also welcomes discussions for a resolution on strengthening local production. We understand that some Member States asked about the role of MPP in supporting local production and would like to provide some clarifications. MPP works with a broad range of generic manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for the production and supply of affordable treatments in these countries. In most of our licences, any manufacturer from anywhere in the world can apply provided they meet key criteria, including stringent quality standards.
Currently we work with 21 manufacturers in five countries. With supply security now being a critical issue for COVID-19 technologies, we are developing new relationships in many more countries and we would like to assure Member States that MPP is committed to sub-licensing to new manufacturers provided always that they meet the required standards.
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Strategy, Policy and Market Access
News & Press Releases » News
MPP’s statement at the virtual sessions of the Seventy-third World Health Assembly on 12 November 2020
The Medicines Patent Pool’s statement at the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly
The Medicines Patent Pool welcomes the adoption of a landmark resolution at the 73rd World Health Assembly
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.