The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a
Unitaid
Unitaid is a global health initiative that works with partners to bring about innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat major diseases in low- and middle-income countries, with an emphasis on tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS and its deadly co ...
-backed international organisation founded in July 2010,
based in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, Switzerland. Its public health driven business model aims to lower the prices of HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C medicines and facilitate the development of better-adapted HIV treatments through voluntary licensing and
patent pool
In patent law, a patent pool is a consortium of at least two companies agreeing to cross-license patents relating to a particular technology. The creation of a patent pool can save patentees and licensees time and money, and, in case of blocking ...
ing. Its goal is to improve access to affordable and appropriate HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). In May 2020, the MPP become an implementing partner of the WHO's Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).
Peer-reviewed economics research find that the MPP substantially increased generic drug supplies, especially in countries with stronger patent protection; positive spillover effect to upstream innovation is found in clinical trials and drug product approvals in MPP-related drugs. A related study found that there is an immediate and large increase in licensing of a life-saving drug in low- and middle-income countries when the patent is included in the MPP. An article in The Conversation has summarized issues in the patent system, relevance to LMIC, and the role of the MPP.
Creation
The United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool Foundation was established as an independent legal public health entity in July 2010 with the support of Unitaid and has been fully operational since November 2010.
The MPP was established in response to the
global HIV/AIDS epidemic, which reached a crisis in LMIC countries that were unable to access essential patented medicines.
In 2006,
Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. M ...
(MSF) presented the idea of patent pool to the French Foreign Ministry and UNITAID.
The MSF proposal was for an entity that would be dependent on patent holders—"particularly private pharmaceutical companies"—voluntarily agreeing to allow LMIC countries access to their licensed essential medicines.
UNITAID was first developed under the impetus of France in 2006, as a "new drug purchasing facility for HIV, TB and malaria" medications.
UNITAID provided "innovative solutions" to "overcome access and innovation barriers for HIV medicines".
It is based on the idea that patents are intended to reward innovation, and that unless licensed, a patent can also prevent the production or sale of affordable, quality-assured generic medicines and the development of novel formulations.
The Medicines Patent Pool negotiates with patent holders for licences on HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis medicines. These licences permit lower-cost manufacturers to distribute patented medicines in developing countries. Licences also provide the freedom to develop new treatments better suited for resource-limited settings, such as paediatric formulations and fixed-dose combinations. Competition among many manufacturers should bring prices down supporting treatment scale-up.
Financing
The Medicines Patent Pool was founded and is funded by Unitaid, a global health initiative that is working with partners to end
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
,
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
,
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
and hepatitis C and works to allow more affordable generic medicines to enter the marketplace in low- and middle-income countries. UNITAID provided the initial $US 4 million to set up MPP in 2010.
In its first grant phase 2010–2015, the MPP worked exclusively in the HIV field and in December 2014, Unitaid approved another funding package for MPP to continue its HIV work through 2020. In November 2015, the MPP mandate was expanded to hepatitis C and tuberculosis treatment. The Medicines Patent Pool was the first and is now the only independent
patent pool
In patent law, a patent pool is a consortium of at least two companies agreeing to cross-license patents relating to a particular technology. The creation of a patent pool can save patentees and licensees time and money, and, in case of blocking ...
that aims to tackle the issue of access to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and tuberculosis drugs in low- and middle-income countries.
Structure
The MPP has two governing bodies: a Governance board (i.e.
Executive Board
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
) composed of 9 members and an Expert Advisory Group comprising 12 members, it also works with ad hoc experts.
The current Chair of the Governance Board is World Health Organization (WHO)’s former Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation
Marie-Paule Kieny, who succeeded Sigrun Møgedal, chair since March 2016 and Charles Clift, the MPP's founding chairman. Past executive directors includes Charles Gore (2018), Greg Perry (2013–2017),
Ellen 't Hoen (2010–2012).
Activities
The Medicines Patent Pool negotiates public-health driven licences with patent holders, and sub-licenses to generic manufacturers to encourage the sale of lower-cost generic versions of medicines in over a hundred developing countries.
In October 2012, the MPP, Gilead Sciences and the UN National Institutes of Health/University of Illinois were honoured by the
Licensing Executives Society (United States and Canada) (LES) for licence agreements that expand access to affordable HIV medicines in developing countries. The LES's annual "Deals of Distinction" Awards are presented to notable intellectual property agreements in five industry sectors and the three parties were recognised for precedence-setting licensing agreements dedicated to improving public health under the Industry-University-Government Interface category.
By 2013, MPP in collaboration with ViiV Healthcare granted 14 voluntary licences generics companies for low-cost versions of
abacavir used to treat children living with HIV.
As of 2018, the Medicines Patent Pool holds licences for 13 HIV antiretrovirals, an HIV technology platform, 2 hepatitis C direct-acting antivirals and 1 investigational treatment for tuberculosis from patent holders
AbbVie
AbbVie is an American publicly traded biopharmaceutical company founded in 2013. It originated as a spin-off of Abbott Laboratories.
History
On October 19, 2011, Abbott Laboratories announced its plan to separate into two publicly traded compan ...
,
Bristol-Myers Squibb
The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the lar ...
,
Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc. () is an American biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Foster City, California, that focuses on researching and developing antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, influenza, and CO ...
,
MSD,
ViiV Healthcare
ViiV Healthcare ( ) is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development of therapies for HIV infection that was created as a joint venture by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline in November 2009 with both companies transferring their HIV assets ...
,
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
, the University of Liverpool, the
US National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
and Pharco Pharmaceuticals. The MPP also worked with
Janssen and
Boehringer Ingelheim to extend their non-assert policies for paediatric darunavir formulations and nevirapine, ensuring that the companies will not assert their patent rights in many more developing countries. The organisation signed an agreement with
F. Hoffmann-La Roche
F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX ...
to increase access to valganciclovir, an important treatment for an HIV opportunistic infection.
In 2018, the foundation announced a new five-year strategy to improve access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries, which supports international public health goals for HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C.
In 2021 deals have been achieved with
Merck
Merck refers primarily to the German Merck family and three companies founded by the family, including:
* the Merck Group, a German chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences company founded in 1668
** Merck Serono (known as EMD Serono in the Unite ...
and
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...
to allow the manufacture
Molnupiravir
Molnupiravir, sold under the brand name Lagevrio, is an antiviral medication that inhibits the replication of certain RNA viruses. It is used to treat COVID-19 in those infected by SARS-CoV-2. It is taken by mouth.
Molnupiravir is a prodrug of ...
and
Paxlovid without paying royalties in poorer countries.
See also
*
Doha declaration The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health was adopted by the WTO Ministerial Conference of 2001 in Doha on November 14, 2001. It reaffirmed flexibility of TRIPS member states in circumventing patent rights for better access to ...
*
Proprietary drug Proprietary drug are chemicals used for medicinal purposes which are formulated or manufactured under a name protected from competition through trademark or patent. The invented drug is usually still considered proprietary even if the patent expired ...
*
COVAX
COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines directed by the GAVI vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Hea ...
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://medicinespatentpool.org
HIV/AIDS organizations
Malaria organizations
Tuberculosis organizations
International medical and health organizations
International organisations based in Switzerland