21 September 2021
Geneva – The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) today announced that it has signed a licence agreement with Tandem Nano Ltd (TNL), the University of Liverpool (UoL) start-up focused on the development of its proprietary long-acting nanosystems platform technology. The non-exclusive, worldwide licence covers the patents and expertise of promising long-acting injectable technologies (LAIs) that could be applied in three disease areas with a high prevalence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and hepatitis C (HCV). The candidate LAIs, currently developed by the Centre of Excellence for Long-acting Therapeutics (CELT) based at UoL, could provide optimal doses of medicines for malaria chemoprophylaxis, TB prevention, and HCV cure. The research teams are designing medicines to be delivered through a single injection to achieve the desired effect on the pathogens over prolonged periods, suppressing the need for daily oral pills, among many other advantages at the individual and the community levels.
“Long-acting technologies are particularly suited for use in LMICs where health facilities and personnel are often stretched. If proven safe and effective, the LAIs developed by CELT could have tremendous public health benefits by improving therapeutic outcomes for malaria, TB, and HCV,” said Charles Gore, Executive Director of MPP. “These LAIs have the potential to eliminate the pill burden, reduce stigma, and decrease the likelihood of treatment failure, relapse, transmission and the development of resistance to the medication. This licence demonstrates MPP’s willingness to look upstream for interventions when we believe there can be a benefit in access and affordability for people living in LMICs.”
“Tandem Nano is excited to have signed its first agreement with MPP to support this vital project,” said Antony Odell, Executive Chair of Tandem Nano. “We are committed to making our technology accessible to people in need in LMICs and look forward to further collaborations with MPP.”
Approximately 90% of people affected by malaria, 95% of people affected by tuberculosis, and 75% of people living with hepatitis C live in LMICs with a combined burden estimated at 300 million people with more than two million deaths per year in these regions. The MPP-TNL licence will enable accelerated access to affordable, high-quality versions of these promising LAI treatments to these countries. With this licence, MPP will now engage with the relevant stakeholders towards licensing to suitable developers and generic manufacturers.
“The LAI formulations being developed by CELT utilise particle technologies that enable the manufacturing of nanoparticle formulations that allow high drug concentrations and minimise injection volumes required to administer the appropriate doses of the drugs” said Steve Rannard, co-Director of CELT.
“Unitaid has invested US$32 million in the LONGEVITY project to speed up the development of long-acting medicine formulations, which have the potential to revolutionise treatment and prevention for millions of people in LMICs,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid. “We applaud the signing of this licence, and the fruitful partnership between two Unitaid-funded initiatives, MPP and the UoL LONGEVITY project. This early access collaboration will ensure life-saving innovations can be delivered to those who need them as soon as they are ready.”
More information on the licence agreement
More information on MPP’s work in long-acting therapeutics
press@medicinespatentpool.org
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.