When new pharmaceutical drugs are invented in the future, Charles Gore hopes that every drug manufacturer will ask itself: How can we ensure this gets to everyone who needs it, no matter where they live?
The organization Gore leads as executive director, the Medicines Patent Pool, offers a creative solution to the patent restrictions that can keep drugs out of reach in low- and middle-income countries. Over a decade, the Pool has accumulated 21 agreements with patent holders to provide licenses to local generic-drug manufacturers, who can then produce medications to treat viruses like HIV and hepatitis C at lower cost. These agreements enabled the distribution of 34.7 billion treatment doses, saving lives across 148 countries.
It’s now on the verge of doing much more. Gore is constantly acquiring more licenses for drugs that treat noncommunicable diseases like cancer, and the Pool has been scaling up a program to produce mRNA vaccines in low- and middle-income countries. In 2022, MPP acquired the patents for ensitrelvir, a COVID-19 antiviral medicine, and this year it partnered with the WHO to develop diagnostic tests for COVID-19, malaria, HIV, and syphilis. Gore aims to create a network that will help the world be prepared for the next pandemic. “Say, for example, Moderna comes up with a vaccine that’s the answer for the next pandemic. There’ll be 15 companies ready to receive that and start manufacturing,” he says.