Exploring the Expansion of the Medicines Patent Pool’s Mandate to Patented Essential Medicines: A Feasibility Study of the Public Health Needs and Potential Impact

The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) conducted a feasibility study to assess the public health need for – and the feasibility and potential public health impact of – expanding its mandate from HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C to patented essential medicines in other therapeutic areas. This includes medicines for different type of cancers (e.g. prostate, lung, multiple myeloma), sexual and reproductive health (e.g. heat-stable carbetocin), multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular diseases (e.g. the direct oral anticoagulants) and several new antibiotics. MPP developed this feasibility study after the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies, recommended the expansion of the MPP’s patent pooling model to all patented essential medicines, such as those included on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines.