24 May 2017
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.
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.