{"entity":{"id":"idea-reg-patent-pool-oncology-eml","kind":"idea","name":"Medicines Patent Pool licences for every patented cancer drug on the WHO list","aka":[],"tldr":"Companies can license their patents to generic makers for poorer countries through a UN-backed pool, as happened for HIV. Only one cancer drug has been licensed so far; the whole essential list should be.","summary":"The Medicines Patent Pool signed its first oncology licence in 2022 (Novartis, nilotinib) covering a limited set of countries. Several patented oncology medicines are on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (and more will be added), including targeted therapies and checkpoint inhibitors, with generic and biosimilar manufacturers in India and China able to supply them. The proposal is a coordinated push, backed by the WHO and funders, for voluntary licences on all patented EML oncology medicines covering at least all low- and lower-middle-income countries, with technology transfer for biologics.","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"Medicines Patent Pool","url":"https://medicinespatentpool.org/"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["imatinib","osimertinib"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-drug-pricing","b-global-access"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"hypothesis":"Licensing brings generic or biosimilar versions of at least five patented EML oncology medicines to LMIC markets within four years at prices under 20% of originator prices, with measurable increases in treated patients.","rationale":"Voluntary licensing cut HIV drug prices by over 90% while preserving originator revenues in high-income markets; oncology's obstacles are commercial rather than legal, and reputational pressure plus assured quality through the pool has moved companies before.","test":"Negotiate licences for three additional products in two years; track time to generic availability, prices and volumes in licensed territories against unlicensed comparators.","maturity":"early-clinical","actor":"policy","cost":"small","horizonYears":4},"route":"/ideas/idea-reg-patent-pool-oncology-eml/","neighbours":{"drug":[{"id":"imatinib","kind":"drug","name":"Imatinib","route":"/drugs/imatinib/"},{"id":"osimertinib","kind":"drug","name":"Osimertinib","route":"/drugs/osimertinib/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-global-access","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Most of the world has almost no cancer care","route":"/bottlenecks/b-global-access/"},{"id":"b-drug-pricing","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Prices and value","route":"/bottlenecks/b-drug-pricing/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"global-access-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Global access and affordability roadmap: essential medicines and generics → biosimilars and frugal trials → reliance, pooling and homegrown innovation","route":"/roadmaps/global-access-roadmap/"}]}}