Unitaid to address intellectual property-related barriers for broader access to health technologies with new call for proposals 

Submissions are welcomed until 1 February 2023 at 12:00 (noon) CET.

Intellectual property rights are an important incentivizing mechanism to accelerate the development of innovations to respond to global health challenges. But while they can be effective in stimulating and rewarding innovation in global health, they can also contribute to inequitable access to new products, as has been increasingly recognized over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

TRIPS flexibilities – legal mechanisms allowing countries to overcome or reduce the potential negative impact of patents in response to specific public health needs – are intended to address equity barriers.

Unitaid seeks to fund projects that will support the use of TRIPS flexibilities and other solutions to prevent or remove unwarranted intellectual property barriers. Unitaid is particularly interested in ensuring the availability and affordability of health products for HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis C, and other diseases and conditions outlined in the 2023-2027 Strategy.

Without intervention, inequitable access will only widen, and populations that are already vulnerable and marginalized will face increasing risk of disease, poverty, reduced quality of life and even death. This work will contribute to enhancing equity between countries as it benefits low-income and, importantly, middle-income countries that are typically not included in voluntary licensing agreements.

Through this call for proposals, Unitaid aims to improve access to health products of public health importance, with a particular focus on affordability, increased supply and adoption, and a diversification of the supply base in low- and middle-income countries.

Learn more about this latest funding opportunity here

Media contact:

For more information and media requests:

Maggie Zander

Communications officer

M: +41 79 593 17 74

zanderm@unitaid.who.int

World Hepatitis Day: Unitaid reaffirms its commitment to make hepatitis C elimination a reality by putting affected people at the heart of the response

Geneva – On the eve of World Hepatitis Day, Unitaid joins the global health community in reaffirming its strong commitment to eliminating hepatitis C by 2030. Bringing care closer to communities will be a key component in the fight against the viral disease, which affects an estimated 58 million people worldwide and can result in life-threatening health problems.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major global health concern, accounting for nearly 300,000 deaths each year.

Unitaid and partners are working together to devise the best strategies with the highest impact for HCV prevention among some of the most marginalized and vulnerable populations, aiming to reduce HCV morbidity and mortality and contributing to achieving the global targets for HCV elimination.

Despite progress in the hepatitis C response — mainly through an effective cure, simplified testing, and increased awareness — new infections remain high with about 1.5 million new infections per year.

Globally, up to 40% of new HCV infections occur among people who inject drugs. HCV is also a major concern for people detained in prisons; one in four detainees are HCV-positive, and access to prevention, testing and treatment remains uneven.

Reducing HCV infection among key populations is therefore essential to achieve elimination targets.

To that end, Unitaid launched a call for proposals in mid-December 2021 to support person-centered approaches for the prevention and treatment of HCV infection for people who inject drugs and people in prison, facilitating integration of services in community harm-reduction settings and prisons. Proposals were expected to include key prevention interventions and HCV testing and treatment. The work aims to increase the impact of harm-reduction services through the introduction of innovative or under-used products.

This critical step towards HCV elimination reflects the bedrock of Unitaid’s new Strategy 2023-2027, which is to support community-led approaches and equitable access to innovative tools and interventions, including for the most marginalized and vulnerable.

Additional Unitaid-funded work will accelerate the uptake of new tools like HCV self-tests and point-of-care diagnostics. Unitaid is also investing in the development of new products such as long-acting versions of medicines to cure hepatitis C.

Since 2015, Unitaid’s US$ 50 million in investments have played a key role in increasing awareness of HCV as a global health priority, contributing to creating the conditions and tools to facilitate wider access to HCV testing and treatment with new and simpler diagnostics, innovative models for screening and treatment, and cost-reduction strategies.

Chronic HCV infection can result in life-threatening health problems like cirrhosis and liver cancer. In most cases hepatitis C can be cured by direct-acting antiviral drugs in 8 to 12 weeks. Today, in many low- and middle-income countries, the cost of an HCV cure is less than US$ 100 per person. There is currently no effective vaccine against hepatitis C.

For more information:

Sarah Mascheroni

mascheronisa@unitaid.who.int

 

For media requests:

Maggie Zander

Communications officer

M: +41 79 593 17 74

zanderm@unitaid.who.int

Unitaid and the Government of Kenya strengthen collaborative partnership to advance global health goals 

Nairobi/Geneva – Global health agency Unitaid and the Government of Kenya are launching a newly reinforced cooperation, with a memorandum of understanding between the two parties signed in Nairobi.

Over its decade and a half history, Unitaid has worked closely with Kenyan partners to enable affordable, equitable, and rapid access to game-changing health innovations for those who need them. These include early infant HIV diagnostics, best-in-class antiretroviral drugs for adults and children with HIV, child-friendly tuberculosis (TB) medicines, cutting-edge screen-and-treat solutions for cervical cancer, indoor sprays to curb malaria, and access to COVID-19 tests and medical oxygen, among many others.

The agreement will further improve alignment between Unitaid investments and Kenyan health priorities, enable early access to innovations, and strengthen capacity of Kenyan health services, systems, research institutions and manufacturers.

“Unitaid’s collaboration with Kenya dates from its very beginnings 15 years ago. Nearly 80% of Unitaid’s US$1.5 billion currently invested supports work on the African continent. Kenya is a close partner in these efforts – both as one of the countries where the greatest number of Unitaid projects are running, and as one of the quickest countries to adopt and scale up critical health innovations,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid. “This partnership will further advance our shared goals to improve health in Kenya and beyond.”

“Advances in health innovations hold game-changing potential when implemented widely and equitably, but ensuring products reach the last mile is far from guaranteed. This is why our partnership with Unitaid is so valuable: together we will design the most impactful solutions so no one is left behind,” “said Sen. Mutahi Kagwe, Cabinet Secretary for Health of the Republic of Kenya.

Joint efforts will focus on advancing sustainable approaches to reduce the burdens of HIV, TB, malaria, cervical cancer, hepatitis and COVID-19, improve the health of women and children, increase regional and domestic manufacturing of essential health products and strengthen pandemic preparedness and response efforts.

Media contact:

For more information and media requests:

Maggie Zander

Communications officer

M: +41 79 593 17 74

zanderm@unitaid.who.int

Unitaid launches call for proposals to prevent hepatitis C in the most marginalised and at-risk groups

Geneva – An estimated 58 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that can lead to serious liver disease. This virus, which causes an estimated 300,000 deaths each year, affects people who inject drugs and incarcerated populations at much higher rates.

Unitaid is therefore seeking to fund innovative projects that will expand access to new tools or under-utilised interventions to prevent and treat hepatitis C, with a particular focus on these key groups in low- and middle-income countries.

Significant progress against hepatitis C has been made in recent years; new medicines that can cure the disease are more widely available, prices have become more affordable, and diagnostic tools have improved. But efforts to prevent transmission remain insufficient. COVID-19 has caused further setbacks; according to the World Health Organization, hepatitis services were among the most frequently disrupted as a  result of the pandemic.

“Hepatitis C greatly affects people who are too often overlooked or ignored by traditional health interventions. Building on the previous work done by Unitaid,  we  want to invest in the prevention and treatment of hepatitis C, and  seek to avert transmission using additional, effective and high-impact harm reduction tools and strategies,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid.

Globally, despite their proven effectiveness, the availability and use of tools to prevent hepatitis C transmission are low. Without intervention, uptake an availability of effective interventions will remain low and will impede the achievement of hepatitis elimination targets. This will also continue to put populations that are already highly vulnerable and marginalized at risk of infection, liver disease and death.

Unitaid seeks proposals that will:

  • Make innovative or under-used tools more widely available for key populations
  • Accelerate the integration of hepatitis C prevention, including testing and treatment, into harm reduction settings or prisons
  • Reduce hepatitis C transmission among some of the most vulnerable and high-risk groups
  • Facilitate the expansion of integrated hepatitis C prevention services to reach key populations in countries where the need is greatest

Engagement with civil society and affected communities is a critical determinant for success.

FIND OUT MORE

  • Read the full call for proposals here
  • Join us on Thursday 13 January 2022 at 12:00 (noon) CET for a Unitaid-hosted webinar to discuss the scope of the call for proposals and answer questions related to submission. Register here

The deadline to submit a proposal is Thursday 31 March 2022 at 12:00 (noon) CET.

Media contact

For more information and media requests:

Maggie Zander

Communications officer

Mobile: +41 79 593 17 74

Email: zanderm@unitaid.who.int

Unitaid paving the way for hepatitis C elimination

Unitaid paving the way for hepatitis C elimination

Photo: © Medicines Patent Pool

 

Geneva, 27 July 2021 – Unitaid has invested more than US$ 45 million into hepatitis C since 2015, driving the development of better and more affordable tools and demonstrating that it is possible to reach – and cure – people in resource-limited settings.

On World Hepatitis Day, 28 July, Unitaid celebrates this work – conducted in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) Coalition PLUS, Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), and the World Health Organization (WHO) – bringing us closer to 2030 elimination targets.

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Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that can lead to serious liver damage, including cancer, when left untreated. The WHO estimates that 58 million people worldwide are infected with the virus, and some 290,000 people lose their lives to hepatitis C-related causes each year.

When new medicines introduced in 2013 showed the potential to transform treatment for hepatitis C, Unitaid stepped in to ensure these game-changing products would reach the people who most needed them. Called Direct Acting Antiretrovirals (DAAs), these drugs could cure more than 90 percent of people in just three months with no serious side-effects. Previous treatment options had been toxic and ineffective, in addition to being expensive, rendering health systems without much recourse to support people infected with the virus.

“Unitaid set out to improve hepatitis C care through a complementary set of investments. Over the past six years we have helped make essential medicines available, simplify testing and treatment, improve diagnostic tools, bring care closer to the people at-risk, and raise awareness of treatment programmes with affected communities and governments,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid.

Enabling the production and supply of quality-assured, affordable medicines, was the first step in making the innovative new products available in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

“We knew from our achievements in HIV treatment that voluntary licences would be essential to make a hepatitis C elimination strategy achievable. With Unitaid’s support, MPP signed its first license agreement in 2015 with Bristol-Myers Squib, allowing generic manufactures to develop and supply quality versions of the DAA drug daclatasvir and its combinations in at least 112 LMICs,” said Charles Gore, Executive Director of MPP. “Today, in the countries that are supplied through our licence, a combined 12-week course of sofosbuvir and daclatasvir is available for less than US$100.”

As part of outreach efforts led by Unitaid grantee Coalition PLUS, two community workers distribute prevention kits including information on hepatitis C to sex workers in the Chow Kit neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur. Photo: © Coalition PLUS / Syaiful Redzuan Md Noor

Hepatitis C disproportionately affects marginalized, displaced, and poor populations in low- and middle-income countries, with people who inject drugs and people living with HIV at particularly high risk.

“We saw that the people most affected by hepatitis C are often those with the least access to health systems, so we set out to connect these people with treatment through a strong on-the-ground presence of community mobilisers,” said Hakima Himmich, President of Coalition PLUS. “Through this network, we raised awareness and created an entry way to care that went far beyond hepatitis C – creating links to HIV and harm reduction programmes, mental health support, homeless services and much more.”

“When we started this work, hepatitis C treatment consisted of injectables that were expensive, toxic and difficult to deliver in resource poor settings,” said Leena Menghaney, Global IP Advisor, MSF Access Campaign. “But consistent work on increasing access to tests and generic oral antiviral medicines that are effective, safe, and more affordable have shown that a cure can be delivered to the most marginalized communities, and MSF patients. Using these access tools, we demonstrated how to integrate hepatitis C services in existing medical and HIV projects to successfully cure people, including in challenging or resource-limited settings.”

A technician uses a rapid diagnostic test in a mobile laboratory to quickly screen people at high risk of hepatitis C infection. Photo: © FIND

Key to improving access to hepatitis C was developing simpler methods for screening and diagnosis. Previous methods required high-tech laboratories that were often only available at a country’s central hospital in the capital city, making testing expensive, inconvenient, and inaccessible.

“The vast majority of people with hepatitis C do not access treatment for a simple reason: they do not know they are infected,” said Sonjelle Shilton, Hepatitis Lead at FIND. “We moved quickly to develop and implement simpler tools and machines that allowed for diagnosing hepatitis C at non-specialist health settings. We worked across high-burden countries to develop innovative models to integrate hepatitis C screening into HIV care.”

“We have started to see encouraging progress against hepatitis C, thanks in no small part to the solutions developed and demonstrated by Unitaid and our partners,” said Dr Duneton. “Since 2015, deaths related to hepatitis C have fallen by more than 25 percent, and the total number of people infected is decreasing too. But the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening our progress, causing delays and disruptions to services, and further marginalizing at-risk groups.”

In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) set a target for hepatitis elimination as a global health threat by 2030.

“We now have the tools and the approaches we need to achieve hepatitis C elimination by 2030,” said Dr Meg Doherty, Director of WHO’s Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis, and STI Programmes. “WHO has released new guidelines on hepatitis C self-testing and guidance on national validation of viral hepatitis elimination. We urge countries and partners to rapidly scale evidence-based approaches – because hepatitis can’t wait.”

 

Media contact

Maggie Zander, Unitaid, Geneva | zanderm@unitaid.who.int | tel. +41 79 593 17 74

Impact story: Paving the way to hepatitis C elimination

Unitaid funding sees launch of world’s first long-acting medicines centre at University of Liverpool

Geneva – Efforts to revolutionise treatments for debilitating infectious diseases have been amplified today with the launch of a new research centre at the University of Liverpool.

Established as part of a US$40 million international research consortium, primarily funded by Unitaid, the University of Liverpool’s Centre of Excellence for Long-acting Therapeutics (CELT) will be the first of its kind in the world.

By repurposing existing medicines into slow-release formulations, where drug effectiveness can be sustained over several months, ‘long-acting’ technology has already been successfully implemented in the fields of contraception and schizophrenia.

It now has the potential to improve the outcomes for treatment and prevention of deadly diseases such as HIV, malaria, Hepatitis C and tuberculosis, which particularly impact low- and middle-income countries.

Current treatment courses for these conditions have often resulted in poor outcomes in low-resource environments, as those living with diseases struggle with regimens that can involve taking dozens of tablets every day and rely on regular access to healthcare settings.

CELT’s mission is to broaden knowledge of long-acting medicines and disseminate key research, with the aim of revolutionising how these devastating diseases are treated, particularly in countries where access to healthcare is challenging.

The work will be conducted out of two state-of-the-art laboratories at the University of Liverpool, where the development of long-acting formulations for malaria and TB prevention, as well as a single-injection cure for hepatitis C, is already under way as part of the Unitaid-funded LONGEVITY project. In the case of malaria prevention, for example, the aim is to cover an individual for the entire malaria season with just one injection.

Meanwhile, by facilitating collaboration between scientists from the fields of pharmacology and materials chemistry, as well as global partners, CELT will ensure that the long-acting medicines are carefully designed with the specific needs of affected communities in mind.

Other projects focus on helping researchers understand better the key success factors for oral, injectable and implantable long-acting approaches.

Unitaid’s Executive Director Dr Philippe Duneton said: “Decades ago, long-acting products revolutionised fields such as schizophrenia and contraception. Today, our goal is to apply similar innovation to bolster global efforts to tackle – and even eliminate – major diseases affecting low- and middle-income countries, including HIV/AIDS. The pipeline of new long-acting products is promising. As a funder of catalytic health interventions, we are excited and inspired to be supporting the University of Liverpool, and other partners, that are blazing a trail in that regard.”

Co-director of CELT, Professor Andrew Owen, said: “Long-acting drug delivery promises to transform patient management, with huge potential impact for treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Benefits for efficacy flow from overcoming issues associated with patients sometimes not taking their medication, which may also help reduce emergence of antimicrobial resistance. CELT harnesses the power of local, national and international collaboration to accelerate understanding of the medicines of the future.”

Media contact: Charlotte Baker | +44 7904 460 181 | bakerc@unitaid.who.int