External Review Of WIPO Re:Search Shows Successes, Areas For Further Work

A revealing independent review to be published this week on WIPO Re:Search, the World Intellectual Property Organization initiative for development of medical products for neglected tropical diseases, malaria and tuberculosis, gives a set of recommendations to ensure the sustainability and success of the initiative.

The Strategic Review of WIPO Re:Search, which is available here [pdf-updated], will be released at the mostly closed-door WIPO Re:Search annual meeting on 29 October at WIPO. It seeks to explore ways to secure the longer-term success and sustainability of the initiative in particular through the expansion of its programs. Overall, the review finds that the Re:Search project has been a “great idea” and should continue.

The review is authored by Richard Mahoney, who according to the document is an international consultant with decades of experience in global health, product development, and international development, and formerly worked for the International Vaccine Institute in Korea. Mahoney has ties to PATH in Seattle, as well as the Rockefeller, Ford and Gates foundations. BVGH also is based in Seattle and started with Gates funding.

While he states that he has extensive experience in analysis such as this, Mahoney writes, “I do not assert that my account is scientifically rigorous nor do I see it as an ‘objectively written report.’” The value of the review is seen as that it is external to the WIPO Re:Search program and is produced by such an experienced professional reviewer, making useful suggestions.

In a recent interview with Intellectual Property Watch, officials from the WIPO Re:Search project, Anatole Krattiger and Tom Bombelles, said the annual meeting this year is a “crossroads” in a sense, as the “proof of concept” has been done and it is time to determine “how to take WIPO Re:Search to the next level.” This includes questions of funding, they said.

WIPO Re:Search was established in 2011 at the initiative of WIPO, which hosts the initiative. According to the review, WIPO covers the costs of running the WIPO Re:Search secretariat and the private sector supports the costs of operating the Partnership Hub, which is operated by United States-based BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH).

According to the review, “a key strength of the WIPO Re:Search Consortium is its ability to attract the collaboration and support of several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.”

However, notes the review: “It has seen less success in expanding the number of participating companies, catalyzing agreements with developing country institutions, responding to requests for financial and technical support from developing country partners, attracting new donors, and demonstrating that partnerships can lead to product development. It has also had some difficulty in creating and operating a structure that is widely understood, and in shaping a clear long-term vision.”

WIPO Re:Search held a side event to the annual WIPO General Assembly earlier this month, in which it gave details on its work to date (IPW, WIPO, 21 October 2015).

Conclusions and Recommendations

In his conclusions, Mahoney states that “WIPO Re:Search emerged at a time when intellectual property was a central contention,” However, he said, “While it remains important, intellectual property to a large extent is no longer the source of such heated debate.”

He also said that WIPO Re:Search is creating a new market for underutilised assets, and “in the near term, WIPO Re:Search is adding value through its active formation of a global network of companies, academia, research centers, and government agencies,” which facilitated the exchange of assets in the form of technologies and research “that could be a potent means to accelerate progress in the field.”

In order to achieve its potential, WIPO Re:Search needs to attract additional financial resources, and broader support, according to Mahoney.

He noted that the “uniqueness” of WIPO Re:Search is that it is “the only international mechanism operating under the aegis of a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), with policies that successfully address IP issues and facilitate private sector activities to accelerate early-stage research by public and private institutions for disease control in developing countries.”

Financial support by the private sector in the form of small grants to WIPO Re:Search users to support research resulting from collaborative agreements should be considered, he said. That would help “ensure that collaborative agreements result in more than the provision of compounds and limited technical assistance through Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs),” and would establish a mechanism to channel new donor funding, “giving priority to supporting universities and developing country research centers.”

Mahoney also found that formalising the role of the private sector in WIPO Re:Search’s operations should be considered. He suggested that contributing companies could become members of an Advisory Committee to review WIPO Re:Search operations “and provide advice on priorities, resources allocation, and management.”

Mahoney found there is an immediate need to upgrade the operation of the web-based database.

The report includes a list of “opportunities” in Re:Search that would be of greatest appeal to donors, and a list of future targets and metrics for measuring program performance.

An annex to the review includes a list of who was interviewed, which consists of industry representatives and researchers/academics from developing countries.

And the review includes an in-depth look at the changing approach to IP by the pharmaceutical industry.

WIPO Responds

The review document also includes the response from the WIPO secretariat to Mahoney’s suggestions.

WIPO said that “WIPO Re:Search has demonstrated that “intellectual property does not have to be a barrier to research, development, and availability of new technologies for NTDs, malaria and TB in LDCs.”

The review was undertaken to answer WIPO and its partners’ strategic questions, and in particular the longer-term vision of WIPO Re:Search, and the next steps to ensure its success.

WIPO agreed on upgrading of the database, for which financial resources were included in WIPO’s 2016/2017 budget.

On the establishment of an advisory committee called for in Re:Search original guiding principles, “the secretariat will continue to consult with Members and BVGH to prepare an appropriate recommendation on this governance issue, for consideration and action at the 2015 WIPO Re:Search Annual Meeting,” on 29 October.

On the recommendation that “WIPO Re:Search’s financial model should be expanded to enable the private sector to grant funds in support of follow-on work by users flowing from WIPO Re:Search collaborations,” WIPO finds “some merit” but “feels it is a priority to encourage companies to engage with WIPO Re:Search collaborations and licensing activities and that some caution should be exercised to ensure they are not burdened with bureaucratic funding procedures.”

The review says WIPO should engage more actively with the product development partnership (PDP) community to emphasise that Re:Search is complementary and not competing for the same donor funding. WIPO agreed with this suggestion and will hold a consultation with PDPs on 29-30 October, following its annual meeting early on 29 October. The proceedings of the closed-door consultations will be published, it said.

On making capacity-building activities a priority, WIPO said it takes note of the recommendation, but upgrading the database should come first.

“The primary focus of WIPO Re:Search is to facilitate collaborations through the Partnership Hub,” the document said, and capacity-building activities undertaken to date “have proven successful and popular with many Members, but our ability to run them hinges on the availability of additional resources.”

Suggestions of changes to the funding model were deemed unlikely to be acted upon, the document said, as the current funding model requiring all private sector for-profit members to support the Partnership Hub is essential to operations of the Consortium.

Separately, a public event will be held during the WIPO Re:Search annual meeting on 29 October (10:45am at WIPO headquarters), entitled, “Advancing A New Generation of Products to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases.” The speaker will be Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute (US), with discussion by Remko van Leeuwen of the University of Amsterdam.

Image Credits: WIPO