6 September 2024
The latest advocacy brief “Accelerating innovation and access to better medicines for children” by the Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations Network (GAP-f) is available on the WHO website. The objective of this brief is to mobilise global advocacy efforts to access better – safer, more effective and quality-assured – medicines in optimal formulations suitable for children. It outlines some of the main challenges in accelerating the development of and access to better medicines for children and presents possible solutions to address those challenges. This brief can be used to support the alignment, messaging, mobilisation and advocacy of stakeholders at global, regional and national levels.
The brief outlines the main challenges in accelerating the development and access to these medicines and presents 5 concrete solutions to address these challenges:
1️. Prioritise efforts: Focus on priority drugs and formulations in the pipeline through the Paediatric Drug Optimization (PADO) process.
2. Strengthen coordination: Improve coordination to align efforts, track needs, and ensure seamless funding streams for paediatric medicines.
3️. Incentivise action: Address regulatory challenges and facilitate market entry to boost R&D investments for paediatric medicines.
4️. Ensure accessibility: Accelerate the introduction and sustain access to better and affordable medicines for children by addressing policy updates, capacity building, and more.
5️. Invest more and smarter: Mobilise resources to accelerate R&D of better formulations for children, with an estimated $100M needed by 2030 to impact 16M children’s lives.
Access the brief
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.