The WHO Group on Access to Technology COVID-19 (C-TAP) and the Drug Patent Group (MPP) today finalized a licensing agreement with the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop several innovative therapeutics, early-stage vaccines and diagnostics. tools for COVID-19.
Licenses, which are transparent, global and non-exclusive, will allow manufacturers around the world to work with MPP and C-TAP to make these technologies available to people living in low- and middle-income countries and help end pandemics.
11 COVID-19 technologies offered under two licenses include stabilized spike protein used in currently available COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine research tools, therapeutic and diagnostic development, and early-stage vaccine and diagnostic candidates. The complete list of NIH COVID-19 technologies covered by the agreement is here.
“I welcome the generous contribution that the NIH has made to C-TAP and its example of solidarity and sharing,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebrejesus, WHO Director-General. “Whether it’s today’s pandemic or tomorrow’s health emergency, we can secure a healthier future for all by sharing and empowering lower-income countries to produce their own health tools.”
“We are honored to sign these public health-based license agreements with NIH under the auspices of C-TAP in order to ensure equal access to life-saving health products for the world’s most vulnerable,” said Charles Gore, CEO of MPP. Director.
“NIH were the first to share their patents with MPP for the HIV product back in 2010 when we were created, and we are thrilled to continue to strengthen our partnership. It is clear that the MPP model works in different health technologies.
The announcement was made today by the US government at the second Global Summit on COVID-19, co-hosted by the United States, Belize, Germany, Indonesia and Senegal.
Licensing NIH technologies to MPP under the auspices of C-TAP will provide greater access to these technologies and hopefully lead to the development of commercial products that can respond to current and future public health needs. In most cases, the NIH will not collect royalties from the sale of products licensed in 49 countries that the United Nations classifies as the least developed countries.
Launched in 2020 by the Director-General of the WHO and the President of Costa Rica and supported by 43 Member States, C-TAP aims to facilitate timely, equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 health products by increasing their production and supply through open, transparent and non-exclusive licensing agreements. MPP provides licensing expertise to this initiative and holds licenses.
11 technologies include:
- Prefusion chic proteins (vaccine development)
- Design based on the structure of pointed immunogens (research tool for vaccine development)
- Pseudotyping of plasmids (research tool for vaccine development)
- ACE2 dimer construction (drug development research tool)
- Synthetic humanized library of llama nanotela and related use (research tool for drug development and diagnostics)
- Newcastle disease virus-like particles showing prefusion-stabilized spikes (vaccine candidate)
- Vaccine based on parainfluenza 3 virus (candidate for vaccine)
- VSV-EBOV-based vaccine (vaccine candidate)
- RNA detection test with RNASEH (diagnostic)
- Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses (diagnostic)
- High throughput diagnostic test (diagnostics)