Make It Happen Campaign Update 7
The Executive Board of UNITAID met on 5 February 2010 for a Special Session on the Patent Pool. The purpose of the meeting was to agree on specific aspects of the legal entity and governance structure for the licensing agency that will run the Pool. Agreement was not reached at this meeting. A resolution from this meeting is expected to be finalised and to become available later this month.
The remaining aspects need to be agreed upon as soon as possible so that the benefits of the proposed Patent Pool can be realised for patients living with HIV in all developing countries. UNITAID has been talking about the Patent Pool for several years now and MSF is watching with concern to see if UNITAID will be able to reach the decisions necessary to turn words into action.
Negotiations with patent holders can begin only once the Patent Pool legal entity is established. It is at this point that we will see whether the eight pharmaceutical companies that MSF called upon in its Make it Happen Campaign in 2009 will enter into formal discussions with the agency and license their patents to the Pool.
The Board must now agree a clear way forward and set up the entity, or the benefits of the Pool risk not being realised.