Agenda item 12.2 – Antimicrobial resistance
MPP representative: Esteban Burrone, Head of Policy

The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) welcomes the Secretariat’s Report. We note the Secretariat’s “expanded efforts to prevent and control drug resistance in HIV, tuberculosis and malaria,” and its emphasis on the importance of research and development (R&D) into new interventions for tuberculosis as a major global priority.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of infectious disease mortality. As noted in the Secretariat’s report, multi-resistant TB has already reached the level of a public health crisis in many countries. With the exception of two new drugs coming to market over the past two years, there have been no new therapies TB in fifty years. We believe that innovative thinking is required to make progress in this field.

New incentive mechanisms in the form of prizes and grants combined with intellectual property (IP) and clinical data pooling, hold significant promise to promote the development of new TB regimens. The MPP supports the 3P project, a collaboration among many TB actors, governments, international organisations and research institutions to accelerate TB regimen development.

With respect to new antibiotics, during the Assembly last year, the United Kingdom presented its AMR review that highlighted the need for innovation, access and proper stewardship of new antibiotics. The report advocated for a strong commitment from developers that receive public sector funding to ensure future access of new antibiotics “either directly or through licensing arrangements such as the Medicines Patent Pool.” We believe that licensing provisions can be structured to support both access and stewardship.

There is a consensus among stakeholders that new interventions are required in AMR, and these may include innovative ways to incentivise R&D and to manage IP. We welcome recent commitments by the industry in AMR and hope to work closely with Member States, the pharmaceutical industry, drug developers and civil society to address this critical public health challenge.