WIPO and pharma body introduce patent search tool

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations ( IFPMA) today launched an online tool designed to provide information on medical patents.

The free and open database, called the Patent Information Initiative for Medicines ( Pat-INFORMED), allows patent owners to provide information on patents covering approved medicines.

In addition, the database will provide a platform for procurement agencies to make direct enquiries to patent owners.

The database is being hosted by WIPO. Meanwhile, the IFPMA is working with 20 research-based biopharmaceutical companies that have backed the initiative.

Each of the companies has agreed to engage with procurement agencies that are seeking detailed information about patents on specific products.

Director general of WIPO, Francis Gurry, said the organisation is committed to increasing patent transparency.

“As a public-private partnership focusing on access to key patent information, Pat-INFORMED will facilitate the procurement of important medicines and thereby support better health outcomes across the globe,” he said, before adding that partnerships like this are important for public health.

Gurry added that WIPO is pleased to help make complex patent information simpler and more accessible.

Pat-INFORMED currently holds information on more than 14,000 patents for 600 patent families.

Thomas Cueni, director general for the IFPMA, explained that the initiative is a practical way of reducing complexity around access to patent information. He added that this is something that health experts have been demanding for a long time.

“By easing access to patent information for public health authorities, Pat-INFORMED can help them make more informed decisions about procurement options available to them, and will be an important contribution to global health,” he said.

Information available on the platform covers patents for molecule drugs within oncology, hepatitis C, cardiovascular, HIV, diabetes, and respiratory therapies. Information is also available for any product on the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines List that are not included within any of these areas.

WIPO said that a second phase of the initiative will extend to all therapeutic areas and consider including complex therapeutics.

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