ViiV Healthcare, a worldwide specialist HIV company that is majority owned by GSK and has Shionogi Limited and Pfizer Inc. as shareholders, recently lengthened its overall country coverage license for dolutegravir.
The extension pertains to all lower-middle income countries (LMICs). The current license agreement now includes the adult formulation of dolutegravir in its Medicines Patent Poll (MPP).
“Our existing collaboration with the MPP is now strengthened through this expansion of the territory coverage of our license agreement,” ViiV Healthcare CEO Dominique Limet said. “This is a good example of how we work with global partners to deliver on our commitments to improving access as we continue making good progress to ensure innovative medicines like dolutegravir can be available to more people living with HIV, in particular in those countries where the need is most pressing.”
This move was made soon after GSK, the majority shareholder, chose to broaden the graduated approach to patents and intellectual property (IP). This will improve access to the medicines in the poorest nations around the world.
The current license includes sub-Saharan African nations. It will also cover over 94 percent of adults who have HIV inside developing nations. This is especially important for Armenia, Morocco, Moldova and Ukraine, as these locations have a registered dolutegravir patent from ViiV Healthcare.
“This is another very positive step by ViiV Healthcare to help accelerate access to the newest HIV medicines for more people in developing countries,” Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK, said. “It builds on the recent changes GSK has made to adopt a graduated approach to IP linked to a country’s wealth. IP protection remains vital to provide the necessary incentives for investment in research to create new treatments, such as dolutegravir. However, we believe that the global health care challenges we all face require us to be flexible in our approach, where appropriate. The positive progress and experience we have had with the Medicines Patent Pool gives us confidence that increasing access, incentivizing innovation and achieving business success can go hand in hand.”
