Medicines Patent Pool

The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a Unitaid-backed international organisation founded in July 2010, based in Geneva, Switzerland. MPP’s mandate is to accelerate access to affordable quality treatments for people living with HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis, as well as HIV-associated co-morbidities. Since 2018, MPP has expanded its mandate to other patented essential medicines on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Model List of Essential Medicines (EML) and medicines with strong potential for future inclusion on the EML. In 2020, MPP expanded its mandate to include COVID-19 treatments. In 2021, MPP expanded its mandate into the licensing of technology with an initial focus on COVID-19 vaccines and pandemic preparedness.

Peer-reviewed economics research finds that the MPP substantially increased generic drug supplies, especially in countries with stronger patent protection; a positive spillover effect to upstream innovation is found in clinical trials and drug product approvals in MPP-related drugs. A related study found that there is an immediate and large increase in licensing of a life-saving drug in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) when the patent is included in the MPP. An article in The Conversation has summarized issues in the patent system, relevance to LMIC, and the role of the MPP.