infoJustice

Gilead has become the first pharmaceutical company to license patents it holds on antiretroviral medicines to the Medicines Patent Pool, a swiss nonprofit established by UNITAID to collect licenses for the manufacture and distribution of medicines for HIV treatment.  The licenses covers tenofovir and emtricitabine (currently recommended by the World Health Organization for treatment in resource-poor countries) and three other products still under development.

The licenses allow use in 99 – 111 countries (depending on the product), and include 3-5% royalties. Health groups applauded the licenses as a positive step forward, though they noted that the terms of the licenses could be improved, and that middle income countries that need greater access to the products are not included.

Press Releases:

• Medicines Patent Pool Press Release.  The Medicines Patent Pool Announces First Licensing Agreement with a Pharmaceutical Company. July 12, 2011.
• Gilead Press Release. Gilead Expands Access Program for Medications in Developing World.” July 12, 2011.
• Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. “Gilead Licence Expands Access, But Several Countries Left Out.” July 12, 2011.
• Knowledge Ecology International. KEI comment on the Medicines Patent Pool license with Gilead. July 11, 2011.
• Oxfam America. Oxfam welcomes Gilead’s historic decision to make HIV drugs accessible to poor. July 12, 2011.