UNITAID welcomes the new collaboration between The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and ViiV Healthcare on HIV medicines for two licensing agreements to increase access to dolutegravir (DTG)[1], a promising new antiretroviral, for both adult and paediatric treatment.

UNITAID’s Strategic Objectives focus on the need to increase access to the best possible HIV medicines for both adults and children, and the new agreements will allow generic manufacturers to produce low-cost versions of DTG for countries with the highest HIV burden, where 93% of adults and 99% of children living with HIV in the developing world reside. The Medicines Patent Pool says it will be working closely with generic manufacturers over the next few years to make it available to those most in need as quickly as possible.

“UNITAID applauds today’s agreement by ViiV and the MPP to address the specific needs of children living with HIV,” said Philippe Douste Blazy, Chair, UNITAID. “Incorporating palatable, child-friendly medicine options into paedriatic HIV programmes could significantly enhance and prolong children’s lives.”

UNITAID founded the Medicines Patent Pool in 2010 and continues to support it, with the aim of increasing access to HIV treatment and spur new innovation worldwide. The foundation offers a new public health approach to negotiating patent licenses for the production of low-cost versions of existing medicines and works with manufacturers to encourage the development of needed new technologies such as FDCs and formulations suitable for children. To-date, MPP has signed licensing agreements for eight antiretrovirals.

[1] UNITAID HIV Medicines Technology and Market Landscape March 2014 found ‘DTG could potentially make first-line INI-based combinations a reality in both high- and low-income countries and potentially at lower cost.’