1 September 2022
Geneva – The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) Governance Board announced today that it appointed the Director and Practice Lead, Healthcare & Innovation Advisory at Sathguru Management Consultants, Pushpa Vijayaraghavan, as its new board member, effective today.
Sathguru Management Consultants is a consultancy firm with market leading presence at the intersection of strategy, innovation and transactions in life sciences. Pushpa leads Sathguru’s engagement with global biopharma industry and stakeholders in healthcare. Pushpa has advised leading pharma companies on strategic growth planning, partnerships, technology access, R&D prioritization et al. Pushpa’s industry advisory engagement spans the breadth of specialty/branded pharmaceuticals as well as generics across small molecules, peptides, biologicals and regenerative medicine. Pushpa has shaped biopharma investment strategy for marque global private equity funds such as Sequoia Capital; and has led techno-commercial evaluation of investment opportunities in the biopharma segment for multiple transactions.
Pushpa has also advised leading research institutions on IP commercialization; and has led more than 20 transactions across the spectrum of platform and product licensing for global / regional rights. Pushpa has been deeply engaged in policy advisory and has contributed to nationally strategic initiatives such as the $250Million World Bank and Government of India co-funded National Biopharma Mission in India and GIZ and IFC funded efforts for vaccine manufacturing capacity creation in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Pushpa’s past experience includes working with the Technology Transfer Office at the University of Michigan and corporate consulting with the life sciences industry in PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited (PwC) and Ernst & Young. She is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP, https://attp.info/current-rttps/) and one among the first ten technology transfer professionals from India to gain the RTTP accreditation. Pushpa is an MBA from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), USA, holds a Certificate in Innovation Policy from the Ford School of Public Policy and an Indian Chartered Accountant.
Read more about the work of MPP’s Governance Board
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.