WHO and MPP announce the first global, non-exclusive license for a COVID-19 technology
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) have finalized a licensing agreement with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) for a COVID-19 serological antibody assay.
The test checks for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies developed either in response to a COVID-19 infection or to a vaccine. The WHO said, “This represents the first transparent, global, non-exclusive license for a COVID-19 health tool, and the first test license signed by MPP and included in the WHO Pool.”
Launched in 2020 by the WHO’s director-general and the president of Costa Rica, and supported by 44 WHO Member States, C-TAP aims to facilitate timely, equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 health products by boosting their production and supply through open, non-exclusive licensing agreements.
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a United Nations-backed public health organization working to increase access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries.
