Dear friends,

On 12 July 2011, the Medicine Patent Pool Foundation (MPPF) released news of its first voluntary license agreement with Gilead, Inc. (Gilead). The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), a network of people living with HIV and their advocates working to secure universal access, and Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge (I-MAK), aiming to increase access to affordable medicines, analyzed this agreement noting serious concerns with content and process, and concluded that the outcome was a setback for the global movement on access to live-saving medicines. We requested a meeting with the MPPF.

On October 2, 2011, members from civil society from the global south, and in particular those from countries that were excluded under this agreement, met with staff and advisors of the MPPF and UNITAID in Geneva. At this meeting many of the issues raised we felt were not adequately addressed by the MPPF and UNITAID staff. At the end of the day, we made the following three demands of the MPPF, in conjunction with UNITAID, its founding partner. MPPF and UNITAID should:

1. Substantially revise or terminate the MPPF-brokered license agreement with Gilead, including any potential or pending agreements with sub-licensees, given Gilead’s bad faith and the controversial terms of the MPPF-Gilead agreement;
   
   
2. Institute an immediate moratorium on negotiations of any new license agreements, including any new or pending agreements with Indian generic producers (potential sub-licensees to the MPPF-Gilead agreement) or with other multinational drug companies (potential new licensors) until such time as standard terms and conditions or a model agreement is agreed to; and
   
   
3. Re-evaluate the current structure of the MPPF, including its governance and administration, goals and mission, and implement comprehensive reforms designed to enhance its transparency, accountability and adherence to core principles of health equity.

We next prepared a letter noting our concerns and demands, and in less than a few days we received over 90 signatures of support from community organizations and networks from over 20 countries including those with access to products in the agreement. The full letter and supporting documents including from the October 2 meeting such as presentations, agenda, participants lists, and background documents are all posted online at (http://www.itpcglobal.org/index2.html).

We hope that you will review the materials and decide for yourself on the value added of this voluntary license between MPPF and Gilead with respect to public health benefits for PLHIVs as opposed to the economic benefits to the multinational company.

Finally, the community letter raising concerns on the MPP-Gilead agreement and making demands of the MPPF and UNITAID leadership is now posted as a legitimately sponsored petition by ITPC, and can be supported at
(http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/mppunitaid). You can also download  the letter here in English, French, Spanish and Russian and send your signature (Name, surname, organisational affiliation and country) to Editpc@gmail.com

We thank you for your consideration and support.

In solidarity,
Sarah Zaidi
Executive Director
ITPC, Bangkok