Unitaid statement on WHO guidelines for COVID-19 antiviral molnupiravir

Geneva – Unitaid today welcomes the conditional recommendation from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the use of molnupiravir to treat adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at highest risk of developing severe forms of the disease.

Oral outpatient treatments are potential gamechangers in the management of COVID-19. They are critical in the global response to the pandemic, with a potential to save lives and ease the pressure on healthcare systems, and an important step toward realizing the promise of test-and-treat strategies in decentralized settings.

Molnupiravir is the first oral antiviral for non-hospitalized mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients to be recommended by WHO, bringing an additional treatment option to the COVID-19 clinical care package.

When administered in early stages of the infection for a full five-day course, the antiviral medicine – developed by MSD in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics – can avert progression to severe illness and reduce the risk of hospital admission and time to resolve symptoms. The WHO recommendation flags the need to address this medicine’s contraindications to ensure appropriate use.

The newly recommended treatment is a significant step for the groundwork Unitaid and partners have laid to rapidly introduce new treatments and adequate testing in low- and middle-income countries. This global effort is being carried out through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator’s therapeutics pillar, with partners including the Global Fund, UNICEF, Unitaid and WHO.

Working closely with the Medicines Patent Pool, originator and generic companies, the ACT-Accelerator therapeutics pillar has secured agreements to ensure rapid and affordable access to molnupiravir, preparing for a robust generic supply base for more than 100 low- and middle-income countries.

But strong, continuous support is needed to address the remaining gaps in access to new therapeutics in low- and middle-income countries. That means supporting production of generic versions of medicines, and ensuring that systems are in place for these products to be promptly prequalified and adopted.

Additional promising oral outpatient therapeutics for COVID-19 are in the pipeline. A second oral antiviral, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, and other compounds including fluvoxamine, are under assessment by WHO.

Media contact:

Sarah Mascheroni

Communications officer

Email: mascheronisa@who.int

Mobile: +41 79 728 73 11

The ACT-A Oxygen Emergency Taskforce…one year on

One year after the launch of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Oxygen Emergency Taskforce, what has been achieved? Has this unprecedented effort by more than 20 United Nations and global health agencies to work together to support low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to mitigate pandemic-related medical oxygen shortages delivered on its promise? And what remains to be done in 2022?

Against the backdrop of widespread oxygen shortages across Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, the ACT-A Oxygen Emergency Taskforce was launched on 25 February 2021. Unitaid and the Wellcome Trust were announced as Co- chairs with membership drawn from the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Biomedical Consortium,[1] UNICEF, UNOPS, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (The Global Fund), the World Bank, USAID, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), PATH, Save the Children, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Access to Medicine Foundation, and the Every Breath Counts (EBC) Coalition.

Later in the year, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) joined the Taskforce. As of January 2022, Unitaid is the sole chair.

The first phase (February – October 2021) 

The initial focus of the Taskforce was to pursue five key objectives:

  1. Assess acute and longer-term oxygen needs in LMICs
  2. Support and review LMIC funding requests to ACT-A Taskforce members
  3. Procure oxygen and related products and services
  4. Increase LMIC access to liquid oxygen, oxygen plant repairs, and critical parts (e.g., zeolite, compressors, etc.)
  5. Strengthen advocacy and communication efforts to highlight the importance of oxygen and accelerate financing available via the ACT-A 

During this period, Taskforce members mobilized ~$US700 million in grant financing to help LMICs avert oxygen shortages and ensured that access to oxygen was front and center of the overall ACT-A response.[2]

Between February and October 2021, The Global Fund, supported by several government and private sector donors, provided ~$US475 million in grants to help more than 66 low- and lower-middle income countries purchase oxygen supplies, including Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants, concentrators, liquid oxygen, ventilators, cylinders, pulse oximeters, and more.

WHO and UNICEF provided direct technical and operational support, procuring $US132 million and delivering $US89 million worth of oxygen supplies to more than 120 countries, including oxygen plants, concentrators, cylinders, advanced respiratory equipment, patient monitors, pulse oximeters, and oxygen delivery consumables, supported by several governments and private sector donors.[3]

Unitaid, the Wellcome Trust, and the BMGF, provided ~$US30 million to the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) and to NGOs including PATH and CHAI to increase the oxygen support they provide to specific LMIC governments – for procurement as well as maintenance and training.

Over 2021, Unitaid invested an additional $US17 million to NGOs ALIMA, PATH, Partners in Health, The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), and CHAI, as well as the WHE, for catalytic interventions including rapidly establishing COVID-19 treatment facilities in West Africa, distributing pulse oximeters, and improving the oxygen market by putting up collateral for emergency oxygen access and equipment stockpiling.

And in September 2021 at the Global COVID-19 Summit, the US Government announced $US50 million to increase access to medical oxygen in partner countries and called for a coalition of governments, foundations, NGOs, and companies to mobilize significant additional funding for oxygen access to “Save Lives Now.”

The second phase (October 2021 – present) 

On 28 October 2021, the ACT-A released a new Strategic Plan and Budget seeking an additional $US1.4 billion to enable the ACT-A Oxygen Emergency Taskforce to continue to finance and provide oxygen supplies to LMICs in need during 2022.

The new strategy set an immediate goal of supporting the delivery of 110 to 140 million cubic meters of oxygen to LMICs by the end of 2021 and a longer-term goal of meeting the medical oxygen needs of 6 to 8 million severe and critical patients by September 2022.

The majority of the oxygen funding needed is for procurement and delivery and to support the repair, maintenance, and scale up of local medical oxygen production via The Global Fund, UNICEF, Unitaid, and WHO.

To implement the new strategy the Taskforce announced three new objectives:

  1. Prioritize allocation of additional resources towards highest impact with a special focus on identifying priority countries and short- and long-term oxygen sources
  2. Coordinate action on quick wins with a special focus on monitoring PSA plant repairs and coordinating financing for technical support
  3. Address supply gaps and bottlenecks for services and related equipment with a special focus on unlocking liquid oxygen supply agreements, expanding service offerings on PSA plants, and resolving bottlenecks in the supply of components and spare parts 

In December 2021, the US Government announced a further $US75 million for additional support for USAID’s Rapid Response efforts, which includes investment to help strengthen oxygen market systems to improve reliable oxygen production and delivery.

A detailed list of oxygen milestones by Taskforce members to date is outlined below.

What’s next? 

As a result of the critical work of the Taskforce in 2021, many LMICs entered 2022 with a far greater capacity to meet the oxygen needs of COVID-19 patients. Despite causing less severe disease, the sheer scale of global transmission of the Omicron variant has driven hospital admissions to record highs in many countries, increasing the need for medical oxygen.

More support is needed to bridge LMIC oxygen gaps during 2022. Oxygen therapy remains the first line of treatment for those with severe and critical COVID-19 in low-resource settings and the ACT-A Oxygen Emergency Taskforce has demonstrated that it can work effectively with LMIC governments and their local partners to increase access to medical oxygen in hospitals, ensure safe oxygen therapy to patients, and support staff to operate and maintain the equipment.

Most of the G20 nations have not yet contributed to ACT-A efforts and to oxygen support. Outreach and coordinated efforts through the ACT-A mechanism continue to mobilize countries and private sector donors with the financial and/or industrial capacity to support LMICs in their national COVID-19 responses, including increased access to oxygen.

Investments made via the Taskforce will not only help countries reduce COVID-19-related deaths but will strengthen health systems for the long term so they can continue delivering oxygen to save lives well beyond the pandemic. This will help countries make progress on many of their Sustainable Development Goal targets, including reducing deaths among newborns, children, women in childbirth, and adults with both communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Investing in medical oxygen will also help countries improve national pandemic preparedness and response, as the risk of respiratory outbreaks where oxygen is a cornerstone of critical care remains high.

[1]  Members of the WHO Biomedical Consortium include ALIMA, BMGF, International Medical Corps (IMC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNICEF, UNOPS, USAID, and the World Food Programme (WFP).

[2]  The World Bank also provided significant loan financing as part of their $US157 billion COVID-19 Crisis Response, which some LMICs have used to improve medical oxygen access. The value of these investments is not included.

[3]  This is in addition to the $US96 million of oxygen support that WHO and UNICEF provided to 145 countries in 2020.

Media contact:

Sarah Mascheroni

Communications officer

Email: mascheronisa@who.int

Mobile: +41 79 728 73 11

FIND and Unitaid, through the ACT-Accelerator, seek organizations to advocate and raise awareness on COVID-19 testing and treatment solutions

FIND and Unitaid today launched a request for proposals (RFP) to select services of organizations, with a proven record of advocacy and awareness-raising in healthcare in low- and middle-income countries, to implement projects to achieve the below specific objectives:

  • Increase access and uptake to COVID-19 testing and therapeutics, as they get recommended, through development and implementation of robust and evidence-based advocacy strategies supported by advocacy, literacy and communication materials and initiatives adapted to specific population groups, regional and country contexts
  • Disseminate and amplify these materials and initiatives through appropriate communication channels to increase prioritization of COVID-19 testing and linkage to treatment in the national pandemic response as well as generate demand for testing and therapeutics within relevant target groups

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a groundbreaking global collaboration to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. FIND co-leads the Diagnostics Pillar and Unitaid co-leads the Therapeutics Pillar. This RFP has been launched under the Advocacy, Communications and Community Engagement (ACCE) task force of the Diagnostic Pillar’s Country Support Working Group.

With this RFP, we are aiming to create an enabling environment for increased access to and scaled-up use of COVID-19 testing and linkage to treatment in target regions (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East).

We are especially seeking country-level organizations including, but not limited to, health sector implementers, marketing agencies, advocacy organizations, not-for-profits, community-led and civil society organizations (CCSO), and faith-based organizations.

The total budget envelope for this RFP is anticipated to be US$ ~2 million. This amount will be distributed among selected partners with an average award of no less than US$50,000 to a maximum of US$100,000

Proposals along with appendices/supporting documents must be received by FIND at [advocacy_RFP@finddx.org] no later than 2 February 2022 at 17h00 CET.

Two applicant webinars are being organized to provide an overview of the RFP and answer queries.

Request for proposals for developing and deploying advocacy strategies to promote COVID-19 diagnostic testing and linkage to care and treatment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) – submission deadline  2 February 2022 at 17h00 CET

Note: Applications and supporting materials can be submitted in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. If you have any questions on the application or exclusion criteria, please write to advocacy_rfp@finddx.org

Find out more: https://www.finddx.org/calls-for-partners

Media contact:

Sarah Mascheroni

Communications officer

Email: mascheronisa@who.int

Mobile: +41 79 728 73 11

Former French Minister Marisol Touraine reelected chair of the Unitaid Executive Board; Unitaid on track to deliver its new strategy for 2022-26

Geneva – At its virtual 39th meeting, the Unitaid Executive Board reelected Marisol Touraine as Board Chair for a further two-year term. Ms Touraine will continue in the position until June 2024.

Marisol Touraine is former French Minister of Social Affairs, Health and Women’s Rights and has served as chair of the Unitaid Executive Board since June 2019.

“I am grateful to the Executive Board for this vote of confidence,” said Ms Touraine. “I remain fully committed to support and ensure Unitaid delivers successfully on its mandate of making equitable access to innovative health solutions a reality for all.”

During her tenure as chair, Ms Touraine helped to strengthen Unitaid’s governance and create greater transparency and inclusivity. The Executive Board’s strategic leadership has brought clear guidance to the Secretariat and delivered informed decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. With sustained mobilization from the Board, Unitaid has gained visibility and recognition, triggering interest and contributions from new donors.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Unitaid has managed to adapt and evolve, demonstrating the relevance of its model and how its unique expertise and leadership is essential and complements the work of other key global health players in delivering effective solutions.

“I applaud the reelection of Marisol Touraine as chair of the Unitaid Executive Board. This is the result of her invaluable leadership and strategic guidance,” Unitaid Executive Director Dr Philippe Duneton said. “The renewal of her mandate is timely as Unitaid enters the last phase of developing its new strategic plan for the next five years. Marisol’s contribution and engagement alongside our Board members are key in the success of this endeavour.”

During this two-day session, the board also agreed on a strategic framework for Unitaid’s new strategy for 2022-26, keeping the Secretariat on track to approve its ambitious and transformative strategic plan next year.

This collaborative work the Secretariat is steering builds on Unitaid’s current strengths and reinforces its position in a fast-evolving global health landscape. It was developed based on lessons learnt from the   COVID-19 global health crisis and defines where and how Unitaid can bring the greatest impact.

The new strategy is a step forward in Unitaid’s ambition to bring innovative, integrated, end-to-end solutions to those who need them most. Fully financing its implementation will be key and continued support from the Executive Board for resource mobilization efforts remain crucial.

“We had very constructive and vivid discussions around Unitaid’s future during this board. I am pleased we have been able to bring together the richness of different perspectives and provide clear directions for the next steps of the development of our new strategy,” said Marisol Touraine.

“In addition to taking on a lead role in the global COVID-19 response, in 2021 we moved forward in developing our next strategy in collaboration with the Board and aggressively ramped up efforts to mobilize resources in an increasingly competitive environment,” Dr Duneton added. “I believe we are well prepared as an organization to meet the challenges ahead.”

Media contact

For more information and media requests:

Hervé Verhoosel

Mobile: +44 77 29 618 634

Email: verhooselh@unitaid.who.int

Unitaid marks World Pneumonia Day and calls on all partners for more funding to the oxygen response

Geneva – On World Pneumonia Day, Unitaid calls on all partners to dramatically increase funding for the oxygen response and joins Every Breath Counts Coalition in urging high-burden country governments to take action to reduce air pollution-related pneumonia deaths.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, pneumonia was the world’s biggest infectious killer of adults and children with 2.5 million reported deaths in 2019. Almost a third of all pneumonia deaths were due to polluted air in 2019. This curable and preventable infectious disease remains the deadliest for children under five, claiming 670,000 lives each year; most deaths occurring among children under the age of one.

Coupled with antibiotics, medical oxygen could save the lives of many children who develop severe pneumonia. Access to medical oxygen commodities is therefore a vital component in the fight against pneumonia. Now, with the COVID-19 health crisis, the challenges around provision in low- and middle-income (LMICs) countries have never been greater.

Robert Matiru, Director of Programmes at Unitaid, warns that without increased efforts to address pneumonia and inequities in access to lifesaving tools, most low- and middle-income countries will not meet the related sustainable development goal targets set by the United Nations for 2030. The target for child mortality aims to end, by 2030, preventable deaths of new-borns and children under 5 years of age.

“We need more political commitment; we need additional investments for health products such as pulse oximeters for checking blood-oxygen level to detect severe disease as well as oxygen itself to save lives,” said Robert Matiru. “And lastly, we need more coordinated efforts among all partners at global, regional and country level.”

Since 2019, Unitaid and its partners have helped strengthen access to pulse oximeters adapted for children in primary health care facilities in LMICs. These efforts aim to address poor availability of pulse oximeters, improve the identification of hypoxaemia, and the onwards referral of severely sick children. Once hypoxaemia is identified, it is crucial that oxygen therapy is initiated as quickly as possible, but access to safe, affordable oxygen in LMICs remains low.

With the World Health Organization and Wellcome, Unitaid is leading global efforts to address barriers to oxygen access such as high pricing or lack of medical oxygen capacity. Together with multiple partners, we are working to assess and develop solutions adapted to the needs of countries such as pressure swing absorption plants, bulk liquid oxygen, as well as portable oxygen concentrators.

In addition to meet the immediate needs of the COVID-19 pandemic, this collaborative endeavour aims to leverage gains in access to medical oxygen commodities in order to help with long-term pneumonia control.

Media contact:

Sarah Mascheroni

Communications officer

Email: mascheronisa@who.int

Mobile: +41 79 728 73 11

FIND and Unitaid invest US$ 50 million to speed lifesaving testing and treatment solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic’s frontlines

  • New funding to the COVID-19 response across seven complementary grants will help fill testing and treatment gaps
  • The grants, adapting novel strategies to the needs of 22 low- and middle-income countries, will focus on generating robust evidence for global scale-up
  • These grants have been made in the context of the diagnostics and the therapeutics pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, designed to rapidly address global inequities in access to COVID-19 testing and treatment

Geneva, 9 November 2021 – FIND, Unitaid, and partners are joining forces to quickly deliver new end-to-end strategies that will accelerate and enhance improved access to diagnostics and treatment, while continuing to build capacity for test-trace-isolate and treatment efforts to contain the ongoing spread of the virus.

Seven grants aim to address inequities in access to COVID-19 testing and treatment, supporting early adoption of comprehensive care packages in low- and middle-income countries across Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Western Pacific, where testing capacity is insufficient and life-saving treatments are practically unavailable. The grants will generate high-quality evidence to inform the World Health Organization guidelines and national policies addressing the optimal approaches to scaling new testing and treatment solutions.

These investments are being made as promising new medicines are emerging, including the oral antiviral molnupiravir. Effective oral outpatient drugs would offer a widespread, scalable way to stop disease progression, reduce hospitalizations, ease the strain on health systems, and reduce deaths. If these drugs are recommended for use, they could be game changers in the pandemic: simple-to-use oral pills, easier and less expensive to produce in large volumes and easier to deliver in outpatient settings. Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator partners are anticipating a series of market interventions to ensure that, when proven safe and effective, the medicines are available in sufficient quantities and at the lowest possible price for all countries in need.

Promptly testing people with mild COVID-19 symptoms for rapid treatment initiation depends on strong links between COVID-19 testing and the availability of medicine across every country.

The new FIND–Unitaid co-investment coincides with the ACT-Accelerator’s renewed mandate for 2022 to accelerate the development and delivery of critical tools and respond to country needs. The updated ACT-Accelerator Strategic Plan notes that, for outpatient treatments, approaches to increasing access to testing and treatment will be key to ensure timely detection and linkage to care, in order to treat patients who may benefit most, including those in high-risk groups and healthcare workers.

The grants will leverage existing laboratory and testing networks to offer additional testing options, such as simple, accurate and affordable antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests (Ag RDTs) and COVID-19 self-tests. Decentralizing simple, affordable, rapid tests will enable quick linkages to care for vulnerable populations. The grants will also support the introduction of emerging therapeutics as they become recommended including new or repurposed medicines, small molecules, and monoclonal antibodies.

Aurum Institute/KNCV, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, FIOTEC, ISGlobal, Partners In Health, and Population Services International have been selected to implement the grants through a transparent, competitive process following a Request for Proposals launched in April this year among Unitaid’s current implementing partners. The selected global health organizations will build on their deep expertise and partnership with national authorities and civil society organizations in making health products more available and affordable in low- and middle-income countries for other diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and cervical cancer, and will be focusing on five main areas of work: evidence generation, catalytic implementation, enabling environment, demand creation to effective transition, and scale-up.

“As we continue to battle the pandemic on multiple fronts, the stark reality is that millions of people in many countries won’t have access to vaccines for months – so test-and-treat strategies are vital to save lives,” said Dr Bill Rodriguez, CEO of FIND. “With exciting new treatment options on the near horizon, we must work together to identify the people who need treatment and ensure they have access to effective therapies without delay.”

“With the number of COVID-19 reported cases and deaths increasing globally, the pandemic is far from over, and inequities in access to lifesaving health products persist,” Unitaid Executive Director, Dr Philippe Duneton, said. “Equitable access to innovative solutions to test and treat all eligible patients, adapted to the needs of low- and middle-income countries, is urgently needed to change the curve of the pandemic and help avert millions of deaths. This new co-investment from Unitaid and FIND will contribute to achieve this goal.”

About Unitaid
Unitaid is a global health agency engaged in finding innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases more quickly, cheaply, and effectively, in low- and middle-income countries. Its work includes funding initiatives to address major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infections and co-morbidities such as cervical cancer and hepatitis C, and cross-cutting areas, such as fever management. Unitaid is now applying its expertise to address challenges in advancing new therapies and diagnostics for the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a key member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.

 

About FIND

FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics, seeks to ensure equitable access to reliable diagnosis around the world. We connect countries and communities, funders, decision-makers, healthcare providers and developers to spur diagnostic innovation and make testing an integral part of sustainable, resilient health systems. We are working to save 1 million lives through accessible, quality diagnosis, and save US$1 billion in healthcare costs to patients and health systems. We are co-convener of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator diagnostics pillar, and a WHO Collaborating Centre for Laboratory Strengthening and Diagnostic Technology Evaluation.

 

About the ACT-Accelerator

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a global coalition of organizations developing and deploying the new diagnostics, treatments and vaccines needed to end the acute phase of the pandemic. Pooling the expertise of its many partners, the ACT-Accelerator has quickly ushered in rapid, affordable tests and effective medicines, and established the COVAX facility for the equitable procurement and distribution of vaccines in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Media contacts

For more information and media requests:

FIND

Sarah-Jane Loveday

Director of Communications

Mobile: +41 79 431 62 44

Email: media@finddx.org

 

Unitaid

Maggie Zander

Communications officer

Mobile: +41 79 593 17 74

Email: zanderm@unitaid.who.int

Unitaid statement at the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting

Rome, 29 October – Executive Director of Unitaid, Dr Philippe Duneton, spoke today in a session on ‘Addressing the Current Pandemic’ as part of the G20 Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting, 2021.

During the meeting, Dr Duneton reiterated the continued urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic – highlighting the risks posed by the emergence of new variants and the unequal access to vaccines – and announced three pieces of good news:

First, new antiviral medicines for COVID-19, which have shown to efficiently reduce the number of people hospitalized and deaths, are under review and should be available soon.

Second, there is a clear path to secure enough treatments to supply low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Novel treatments – such as molnupiravir, developed by MSD/Merck – are cheaper, in addition to being easier to produce and implement, than biological products. Creating generic markets for these antivirals is an urgent next step.

Third, MSD/Merck has agreed to grant voluntary licences to eight generic manufacturers. And this week, MSD/Merck signed a ground-breaking agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) – which was founded by Unitaid ten years ago – to expand the number of generic manufacturers.

Dr Duneton called on G20 members to encourage the private sector to increase the scope of countries that can benefit from this voluntary licence and to create access provisions to medicines that respond to public health needs.

Beyond expanding access, there is an urgent need to work with regulatory agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners to ensure that countries can receive and deliver these life-saving treatments.

Medical oxygen remains one of the main medicines available to treat hospitalized patients and prevent avoidable deaths. Despite recent progress, access to oxygen remains a challenge in many countries, warned Dr Duneton, highlighting the continued need for financing to support global demand.

The world still needs resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, reduce the number of people hospitalized, and save lives. Fully funding global response mechanisms such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) is crucial to bringing an end to the pandemic.

The ACT-A Therapeutics Pillar, co-led by Unitaid and Wellcome, needs an estimated US$3.5 billion to deliver treatments, including oxygen, over the next 12 months.

Following Dr. Duneton’s intervention, the G20 Ministers adopted a communiqué.

About Unitaid
Unitaid is a global health agency engaged in finding innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases more quickly, cheaply, and effectively, in low- and middle-income countries. Its work includes funding initiatives to address major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infections and co-morbidities such as cervical cancer and hepatitis C, and cross-cutting areas, such as fever management. Unitaid is now applying its expertise to address challenges in advancing new therapies and diagnostics for the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a key member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.

 

About the ACT-Accelerator

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a global coalition of organizations developing and deploying the new diagnostics, treatments and vaccines needed to end the acute phase of the pandemic. Pooling the expertise of its many partners, the ACT-Accelerator has quickly ushered in rapid, affordable tests and effective medicines, and established the COVAX facility for the equitable procurement and distribution of vaccines in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Media contacts

For more information and media requests:

Unitaid

Maggie Zander

Mobile: +41 79 593 17 74

Email: zanderm@unitaid.who.int

WHO-Unitaid statement on the MPP licensing agreement for molnupiravir

Geneva, 27 October 2021 – WHO and Unitaid welcome the signing of a voluntary licensing agreement by the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and MSD to facilitate affordable access to molnupiravir, a new medicine being tested in clinical trials for treating COVID-19 in adults.

Molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral medicine, was reported to reduce the risk of hospitalization in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 by 50% in interim phase III clinical trials. It is currently being evaluated for inclusion into the WHO living guideline on COVID-19 therapeutics and is pending authorization for its use from regulatory bodies. If approved, it will be the first oral medicine for non-hospitalized mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients.

The MPP/MSD licensing agreement is a positive step towards creating broader access to the treatment as quickly as possible by allowing generic licensees from around the world to prepare supplies and create more affordable versions of the medicine, pending WHO recommendations and other regulatory authorizations. This will shorten the time from approval of the medicine to its availability in the 105 low- and middle-income countries covered by the licence and where there is no patent infringement and licensed know-how has not been used. We hope the company will include other key countries in the scope of the agreement in the near future.

We commend MPP for negotiating the licence from a public health perspective – in line with WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) principles, it is non-exclusive and transparent.

We urge the manufacturer to provide data of clinical trials to WHO as soon as possible, so that the agency can evaluate the medicine for global use.

Other companies developing vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics should consider open and transparent licences as soon as possible, especially for other promising COVID-19 health technologies, for which we also need to ensure broad supply and affordability in all countries in order to end the pandemic. Both the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and C-TAP, in partnership with MPP, are working to facilitate such licences, and look forward to an open dialogue with relevant developers.

About Unitaid
Unitaid is a global health agency engaged in finding innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases more quickly, cheaply, and effectively, in low- and middle-income countries. Its work includes funding initiatives to address major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infections and co-morbidities such as cervical cancer and hepatitis C, and cross-cutting areas, such as fever management. Unitaid is now applying its expertise to address challenges in advancing new therapies and diagnostics for the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a key member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.

About WHO

The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States across six regions, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and well-being.

For updates on COVID-19 and public health advice to protect yourself from coronavirus, visit www.who.int and follow WHO on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube, and Twitch.

About the ACT-Accelerator

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a global coalition of organizations developing and deploying the new diagnostics, treatments and vaccines needed to end the acute phase of the pandemic. Pooling the expertise of its many partners, the ACT-Accelerator has quickly ushered in rapid, affordable tests and effective medicines, and established the COVAX facility for the equitable procurement and distribution of vaccines in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Media contacts

For more information and media requests:

WHO Media inquiries

Telephone: +41 22 791 2222

Email: mediainquiries@who.int

Unitaid

Maggie Zander

Mobile: +41 79 593 17 74

Email: zanderm@unitaid.who.int