Medicines Patent Pool Expands Its Patent Database To Cancer Treatments

By Catherine Saez

The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announced today that MedsPaL, its database of information on the patent and licensing status of selected HIV, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis medicines, now extends to patented treatments on the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines. New patents data include medicines for leukaemia, breast cancer and other cancer indications.

MedsPaL now covers 6,800 national patent applications in more than 110 countries for more than 70 priority treatments, according to a press release. Patent information has been added for seven medications: bendamustine, bevacizumab, dasatinib, imatinib, nilotinib, rituximab and trastuzumab, “as a first step in incorporating additional data on patented medicines on the WHO’s EML [Essential Medicines List],” according to the release.

MPP also announced today that it has signed collaborative agreements with additional patent offices, Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) to augment data on MedsPaL

MedsPaL was funded by Unitaid, and funding provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation allowed the upgrade of MedsPaL to include other EML treatments, the release said.

“To support the updating of MedsPaL, the MPP has signed collaborative agreements with the European Patent Office (EPO), Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), Chile’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI), Dominican Republic’s National Office of Industrial Property (ONAPI), Ecuador Industrial Property Institute (IEPI), El Salvador’s National Registry Center (CNR) and South Africa’s Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC),” the release added.

The MPP made a presentation of MedsPaL at the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on the Law of Patents this morning.

The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) has signed collaborative agreements with additional patent offices, Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) to augment data on MedsPaL