fb tracking

The Medicines Patent Pool

The Medicines Patent Pool

In December 2009, UNITAID created the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) as a separate entity to focus on increasing access to HIV medicines in developing countries. The Pool’s objective is to facilitate licensing agreements with patent holders and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers. Unlike state-based compulsory licenses or patent oppositions, MPP licenses can reach many countries at once, potentially changing the global access picture for a given drug.

Public Citizen sees the success of the MPP as an invaluable element in our fight to expand access to medicines. But for the Medicines Patent Pool to truly work, those of us in the global health community must continue to press for conditions which allow it to succeed. The MPP has the potential to be a game-changer for global health which contributes to saving millions of lives, but it can’t do it alone.


May 15, 2014Boehringer Ingelheim’s response to Public Citizen’s letter regarding the Medicines Patent Pool

April 25, 2014Novartis’ response to Public Citizen’s letter regarding the Medicines Patent Pool

April 23, 2014Johnson & Johnson’s response to Public Citizen’s letter regarding the Medicines Patent Pool

April 8, 2014 – Public Citizen letters to AbbVie, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, F. Hoffman-La Roche, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Pfizer and Shionogi regarding the latest licensing agreement between ViiV Healthcare and the Medicines Patent Pool

April 1, 2014Medicines Patent Pool-ViiV Healthcare Licensing Agreement Statement of Peter Maybarduk, Global Access to Medicines Program Director

December 12, 2013Press Release: Medicines Patent Pool Reaches Licensing Deal with BMS to Expand Access to AIDS Drug

April 23, 2013Johnson & Johnson response to Public Citizen letter on the Medicines Patent Pool

April 22, 2013Bristol-Myers Squibb response to Public Citizen letter on the Medicines Patent Pool

April 2, 2013 – Public Citizen letters to Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co. and Pfizer regarding the ViiV Healthcare and Medicines Patent Pool Agreement

February 28, 2013Press Release: Medicines Patent Pool Reaches Licensing Deal for GSK Patents to Expand Access to Medicines for Children with HIV

December 22, 2011A brief history of Johnson & Johnson’s refusal to negotiate with the Medicines Patent Pool

December 15, 2011Johnson & Johnson response to Public Citizen letter on the Medicines Patent Pool

December 10, 2011Public Citizen Brief on the Medicines Patent Pool

December 7, 2011Public Citizen letter to Tibotec/Johnson & Johnson urging them to negotiate licensing with the Medicines Patent Pool

Back to Access to Medicines Home Page