Geneva, March 21, 2016 — I am pleased to announce that Sigrun Møgedal has agreed to assume the position of chair of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) Governance Board, effective immediately. Sigrun, a long-time member of the Board, takes over the reins from Charles Clift, the founding chair, who served the foundation well during its first five years as a Swiss foundation. Under Charles’ guidance, the MPP has grown from a nascent organisation working to improve access to HIV medicines to a solid partner in the access to medicines community with public health licences for 13 medicines and more than 50 product development projects ongoing. Charles will remain on the Board and continue to provide valuable counsel during the next phase as we expand our mandate into the new treatment areas of hepatitis C and tuberculosis.

Dr. Sigrun Møgedal, Special Adviser with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, is a medical doctor, former Ambassador for HIV/AIDS and Global Health Initiatives for Norway, and former Chair of the Board for the Global Health Workforce Alliance at the World Health Organization. She was previously senior advisor to the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), and senior policy adviser to the Executive Director of UNAIDS.  We thank Charles for his service to the foundation and Sigrun for agreeing to step in as his successor.

Greg Perry