Endorsements

What people are saying about the Pool

… from the international community

I commend UNITAID for taking the initiative to establish the Medicines Patent Pool. The WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property recognized early on the potential of such voluntary mechanisms. Recently the G8 encouraged patent-holders to participate in the Medicines Patent Pool. I admire the companies that are in negotiations with the Patent Pool, and the US NIH for having been the first to license to the Pool… Let us accelerate the two-pronged innovation that has been the hallmark of the HIV response: innovation to deliver existing interventions and innovation for new tools to do more.”
Margaret Chan, Executive Director of the World Health Organization, Introductory remarks at the 2011 High-level meeting on AIDS, 9 June 2011

“Voluntary use, where appropriate, of … patent pools benefiting all developing countries, including through entities such as the Medicines Patent Pool, [is encouraged] to help reduce treatment costs and encourage development of new HIV treatment formulations, including HIV medicines and point-of-care diagnostics, in particular for children.” United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, June 2011

“We call on all patent-holders, including pharmaceutical companies, governments, universities and research institutions to: License their patents with the UNITAID Medicines Patent Pool to facilitate the production of affordable medicines and the development of needed formulations for all developing countries.”
São Paulo Parliamentary Declaration on Access to Medicines and Other Pharmaceutical Products [pdf], Global Fund Partnership Forum, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 27 June 2011

“We welcome the Patent Pool Initiative launched by UNITAID in order to facilitate production of affordable generic medicines well-adapted for use in resource-poor settings, and we invite the voluntary participation of patent owners, private and public, in the project.”
Group of 8 Declaration, G8 Summit of Deauville, France, 26-27 May 2011

“UNAIDS strongly encourages other antiretroviral patent holders to establish agreements with the Pool, and for generic manufacturers to utilize the licenses that the Pool can facilitate to expand access to antiretroviral treatment.”
Paul De Lay, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, in a UNAIDS Feature Story, 14 October 2011, after Aurobindo sublicensed from the Pool.

“We think that the Medicines Patent Pool is an important initiative towards achieving universal access to the newer HIV medicines… At WHO we will be pleased to give priority to any of the newly developed FDCs for assessment by our WHO / UN Prequalification Programme in order to facilitate its rapid uptake by the funding agencies and national governments.”
Hans V. Hogerzeil, former director, Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies at WHO, 5 October 2010.

“Countries should secure continued access to affordable medicines, diagnostics and other commodities needed for the HIV response… The Medicines Patent Pool is a means to enhance availability and facilitate the development of new fixed-dose combinations and adapted formulations, such as paediatric formulations, through voluntary licence agreements.”
The World Health Organization Global health sector strategy on HIV/AIDS 2011-2015, 2011

“The Human Rights Council… welcomes the creation of the Medicines Patent Pool Foundation by UNITAID, with a view to improving access to appropriate, affordable antiretrovirals in developing countries.
The Human Rights Council at the UN General Assembly, 27 September 2010 [pdf]

… from national governments

The Medicines Patent Pool aims to enhance competition to bring down the prices in developing countries… the Pool can also encourage needed new innovation, especially to help treat children and create fixed-dose combinations necessary to scaling up and improving HIV treatment in resource poor settings. The initial licence from the US National Institutes of Health to the Medicines Patent Pool announced in September was an important first step, but to succeed it is critical to have more companies joining the Pool to scale up HIV treatment.”
Nils Daulaire, director of the office of global affairs at the US Department of Health and Human Services, to the WHO Executive Board, 18 January 2011

“The Medicines Patent Pool has potential to support access to more appropriate and affordable ARVs in developing countries by setting incentives for product adaptation and generic production. We will encourage the pharmaceutical sector to engage actively with the Medicines Patent Pool to support the availability of more appropriate and affordable ARVs.”
Towards zero infections: The UK’s position paper on HIV in the developing world, May 2011

… from civil society and communities of people living with HIV

We need the Patent Pool to work… The exorbitant price of AIDS medicines, especially antiretrovirals, has been one of the main barriers to people with HIV accessing them, especially in developing countries. As activist organisations we have been at the forefront of many of the struggles to make medicines affordable… One of the initiatives that has resulted from these struggles is the Patent Pool.”
A Joint Statement by Treatment Action Campaign, Treatment Action Group, HIV i-Base, European AIDS Treatment Group and SECTION27, We need the Patent Pool to work, 17 November 2011

“The ‘Getting to Zero’ theme has three main goals: Zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths: The MPP is an effective and powerful strategy s all three. As investors in pharmaceutical companies who view access to medicines as a fundamental human right, we strongly encourage participation… Thirty years after it was first diagnosed, millions of people in developing countries are still sick and dying of AIDS. The need for affordable medicines to eradicate this scourge couldn’t be clearer. We want to encourage ViiV and BMS to achieve a successful conclusion to their negotiations and once again call upon the other companies we hold, such as J&J, Merck and Abbott, to begin negotiating with the MPP immediately… It is our fervent hope that by World AIDS Day 2012, all pharmaceutical companies will have seen the wisdom of joining the MPP.”
Various members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, shareholders who engage with corporations to promote justice and sustainability, in a 1 December 2011 Press Release The Medicines Patent Pool: A Powerful Strategy for “Getting to Zero”

“The Medicines Patent Pool offers a way forward that could work for both people living with HIV and for companies, but it requires the companies’ cooperation. Ideally there would be no patents preventing access to medicine. But where patents exist, the Pool is a way to manage them so that public health goals are still achieved, and people living with HIV are not barred from getting the medicines they need. On the occasion of World AIDS Day 2011, the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK) calls on drug companies to help ensure these medicines are available by joining the Medicines Patent Pool.”
NEPHAK Calls on J&J, Merck and Abbott to Join the Medicines Patent Pool and Countries and Donors to honour their commitment to the Global Fund [pdf], 1 December 2011

… from companies and product development partnerships

We are excited about both the public health and business opportunities provided by the Patent Pool licences. Aurobindo looks forward to increasing its manufacture of HIV-related products, and expanding its work to cover promising new treatments, for the millions of people living with HIV across the globe,”
P.V. Ramaprasad Reddy, chairman of Aurobindo, upon signing a licence with the Pool.

“I would encourage my other colleagues in the HIV arena to join the Medicines Patent Pool and let’s create another way to get broad based access to ARVs to the poorest of the poor.” In particular Gilead believes the Pool could facilitate development of medicines for children.
Gilead VP of International Access at UNITAID/UNAIDS/Pool side event to the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV, 9 June 2011