Pharma companies and research institutes will share IP in neglected diseases research

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has launched WIPO Re:Search, a new consortium where public and private sector organisations will share intellectual property (IP) and expertise with the global health research community to promote development of new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics to treat neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and tuberculosis.

In WIPO Re:Search the pharma companies Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, MSD1, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi will collaborating with WIPO, BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH), the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other non-profit research organisations, including the California Institute of Technology, the Center for World Health & Medicine, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Medicines for Malaria Venture, PATH, the South African Medical Research Council, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Dundee (UK).

“WIPO Re:Search is a ground-breaking example of how a multi-stakeholder coalition can put IP to work for social benefit,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “By joining WIPO Re:Search, companies and researchers commit to making selected intellectual property assets available under royalty-free licenses to qualified researchers anywhere in the world for research and development on neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and tuberculosis.”

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), neglected tropical diseases today impair the lives of an estimated 1 billion people.

By providing a searchable, public database of available intellectual property assets, information, and resources, WIPO Re:Search will facilitate new partnerships with organisations that conduct research on treatments for neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and tuberculosis.

Membership in WIPO Re:Search as a user, provider, or supporter is open to all organisations that endorse, adhere to, and support the project’s guiding principles. These principles include the commitment that IP licensed via WIPO Re:Search will be licensed on a royalty-free basis for research and development on neglected tropical diseases in any country and on a royalty-free basis for sale of neglected tropical disease medicines in, or to, least developed countries.

The pharmaceutical industry has an important part to play in addressing unmet medical needs, and increasing access to collective proprietary information will help advance research into treatment options for these underserved diseases, said David Brennan, CEO of AstraZeneca and President of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA). “WIPO Re:Search has the potential to make a real impact on global health, which is why we are proud to make all patents owned by AstraZeneca available to this important initiative for promoting the research and development of treatments for neglected tropical diseases anywhere in the world,” Brennan said.

The WIPO Re:Search database includes a wide variety of contributions relevant to malaria, tuberculosis, and other neglected tropical diseases, including individual compounds and associated data, screening hits from compound libraries, and expertise and know-how in pharmaceutical research and development.

In addition, WIPO Re:Search offers the opportunity for neglected tropical disease researchers to work directly with scientists at pharmaceutical companies to advance R&D on these diseases. As WIPO Re:Search moves forward, offerings from current partners will continue to grow and new providers are expected to join to add to the wealth of information, compounds, and services available.