[Ip-health] George Soros Calls on UNITAID to Adopt Patent Pool

[Matthew Kavanagh]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
All... Please note (below & attached) this helpful letter from George Soros
of the foundation Open Society Institute and leading international investor
to
the board of UNITAID calling for a strong patent pool, with access for
low and middle income countries.
Note that OSI is not a board member, but I believe is part of the
foundations delegation... It's good to see such clear consensus forming to
move this forward.
_M
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23 November 2009

Dear Drs Douste-Blazy and Bermudez:

I am writing to voice my support and encourage UNITAID=92s Board and
Secretariat to continue its ground-breaking, innovative work on the
establishment of a patent pool for HIV/AIDS medications. I wish to
congratulate UNITAID on its demonstrated vision and leadership in taking on
this important issue.

I have been involved for many years through my Foundation, the Open Society
Institute, in access to essential medicines work.  Over the last 15 years,
OSI has funded HIV/AIDS and TB treatment and prevention efforts in countrie=
s
in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa.  I have personally supported th=
e
creation of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), with
which OSI has also subsequently engaged in support of effective grant
implementation.. Since 2007, OSI's Access to Essential Medicines Initiative
(AEMI) has assisted the leading civil society organizations working on
intellectual property and access to medicines issues, including on the
advancement of new models to incentivize public health needs-driven
innovation and access. As you are aware, we have also supported the civil
society delegations on the UNITAID Board, to actively contribute to
realizing UNITAID=92s ambitions of improving access to lifesaving medicines
and foster innovation.

In the last 10 years, access to HIV/AIDS treatment has vastly expanded
globally. This increased access resulted largely from generic competition,
which drove down the prices of the initial first-line treatments, and from
the establishment of the GFATM. These advances are currently endangered by
high prices for both improved first line treatments and all second line
treatments. In the post-TRIPs era, the mechanisms previously used to create
generic competition are no longer available. In addition, little research
and development work is currently dedicated to finding more relevant, bette=
r
adapted formulations for particularly vulnerable groups in resource poor
settings. These include affordable fixed-dose combinations and critically
needed formulations for children. In the current international financial
context, it is even more urgent to explore new mechanisms to boost the
availability of patient-friendly and affordable lifesaving medicines.

UNITAID=92s Medicines Patent Pool initiative has the potential to bring abo=
ut
a highly needed paradigm shift to allow the world community to better
address the chronic crisis of access to essential medicines in low- and
middle-income countries. There is compelling case to be made for medicine
patent pools, especially for lifesaving medicines for an enormous public
health need such as HIV/AIDS.

The UNITAID Medicines Patent Pool is a strategic opportunity to establish
long term solutions to excessively high priced AIDS medicines, and could
foster innovative and needs-driven R&D to generate new AIDS drugs. It will
be essential for the patent pool to cover not only low income countries but
also middle income countries where access to essential medicines remains a
challenge for the poorest and most marginalized. Through our work in Easter=
n
Europe and Central Asia for instance, we hear on a daily basis that ARV
prices, and lack of appropriate dosage forms constitute major barriers to
increase access to treatment.

Since current mechanisms do not provide sufficient incentives to address
these needs, I, along with many OSI partners, fully support UNITAID=92s
courageous endeavor that will not only change market dynamics for AIDS
medicines but can also serve as a model for other diseases in the future.
Health activists, particularly those advocating on HIV/AIDS worldwide, are
excited about this UNITAID initiative.

UNITAID is uniquely positioned to drive the patent pool forward. In line
with its engagement with UNITAID, OSI would be keen to support an active
civil society engagement in the framing and implementation of this
initiative.

Yours Sincerely,

George Soros
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Matthew  Kavanagh
Health GAP (Global Access Project)
tel +1 202 355-6343 // mob +1 202 486-2488
matthew@healthgap.org
  www.healthgap.org
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[ UNITAID Soros Letter.pdf of type application/pdf deleted ]