7 June 2017
Geneva, 7 June 2017 — The Medicines Patent Pool welcomes yesterday’s publication of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Model list of essential medicines (EML) for 2017, and particularly the inclusion of MPP-licensed dolutegravir, WHO-recommended as an alternative HIV first-line treatment. Updated every two years, the WHO’s list is an inventory of key medicines that treat the world’s most pressing health concerns, selected for their public health importance, safety, efficacy and comparative cost-effectiveness.
Dolutegravir, licensed from ViiV Healthcare by the MPP in 2014, has a good barrier to resistance as well as high efficacy and tolerability at a relatively low dose, and is considered a significant advancement in HIV therapy. The ViiV-MPP licence allows generic manufacture of the drug for supply in at least 92 low- and middle- countries and three of MPP’s nine generic partners developing the treatment have already filed for WHO prequalification.
Additional formulations of MPP-licensed medicines are also now included in the 2017 EML. These include atazanavir/ritonavir; efavirenz/lamivudine/tenofovir and a new indication for emtricitabine/tenofovir for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). In total, the MPP holds licences for 13 formulations on the WHO model list of essential medicines, including hepatitis C antiviral daclatasvir, and is currently exploring an expansion of its voluntary licensing model to all patented essential medicines on the WHO list.[1]
The WHO EML, first compiled by a World Health Organization (WHO) expert panel in 1977, now comprises 433 medicines for such priority conditions as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, reproductive health and, increasingly, for noncommunicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes. This year’s list also includes new guidance on antibiotic use.
[1] Medicines in the WHO EML licensed to the MPP: Abacavir (ABC) (paediatrics); ABC/lamivudine (3TC) (paediatrics); Atazanavir (ATV); ATV/ritonavir (r); Daclatasvir (DCV); Dolutegravir (DTG); Efavirenz (EFV)/3TC/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF); Raltegravir (RAL) (paediatrics); Lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r); Ritonavir (r); TDF, TDF/FTC/EFV, TDF/FTC for treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis, Valganciclovir (access agreement with the MPP).
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.