25 May 2022
Pillar 1 – One billion more people benefitting from universal health coverage
Speaker: Giulia Segafredo
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the draft implementation roadmap.
Ensuring access to safe, effective, and affordable essential medicines is one of the critical factors necessary to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), however a sustainable access mechanism for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) medicines, particularly for innovative treatments, is still lacking in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
We welcome the recent recommendations of the WHO Expert Committee for the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines urging MPP to explore voluntary licenses for innovative NCDs medicines, small molecules and biotherapeutics, with high potential to be listed, to work on paving the way for future access.
With our experience in building partnerships with industry and other stakeholders and our track record in implementing public health licences; MPP re-affirms its commitment to working with WHO and Member States, to improve the availability and affordability of essential medicines for NCDs.
Pillar 2 – One billion more people better protected from health emergencies
Speaker: Tiwadayo Braimoh
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is pleased that equity is a key part of the considerations for strengthening WHO’s preparedness and response to health emergencies.
Public health-driven, voluntary, non-exclusive, and transparent licensing of intellectual property and technology transfer can be a critical way to achieve equity. This approach is being applied to patented COVID-19 therapeutics, which have been licensed to multiple generic manufacturers to supply around 100 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Similarly, the mRNA technology transfer hub programme that currently includes spokes in 15 LMICs aims to develop sustainable manufacturing capabilities to ensure equitable access to vaccines in LMICs.
MPP recommends the strengthening of these mechanisms for future pandemics and calls for the inclusion of relevant access conditions in public and philanthropic funding of research and development to facilitate voluntary licensing and technology transfer.
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.