Novartis signs landmark licensing deal with MPP for high-priced cancer drug

SWITZERLAND — Pharmaceutical giant Novartis has signed a licensing agreement increasing access to vital leukemia treatment, the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) has said, marking the first-ever such agreement for a cancer drug.

The deal will give selected manufacturers the opportunity to develop, manufacture and supply generic versions of nilotinib, a twice-daily oral medication used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

According to the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), the oral drug nilotinib, which is used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, could be manufactured in Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tunisia where patents on the product are pending or in force.

“Access to high-quality cancer medicines is a crucial component of the global health response to the cancer burden,” said Charles Gore, head of the Medicines Patent Pool, the United Nations-backed public health organization working to increase access to life-saving medicines in poorer countries.

According to the World Health Organization, cancer kills approximately 10 million people each year, accounting for one in every six deaths.

Its impact is often greater in poorer countries, where the cost of treatment means that many people who need the drugs are unable to access them.

While the remaining patent period for nilotinib was “relatively short”, he said the licensing deal set “a vital precedent that I hope other companies will follow”, Gore said in a statement.

Novartis president of global health and sustainability Lutz Hegemann said the company was “proud to be pioneering this new licensing model with MPP”.

The drug is listed on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines for the treatment of adults and children over the age of one suffering from CML.

The decision to license the drug is a more diplomatic way of increasing access to essential drugs in low- and middle-income countries than countries using compulsory licenses or other means to manufacture patented drugs without the consent of the originator.

But this might just be the tip of the iceberg for increasing access to cancer drugs following the establishment of the industry-backed Access to Oncology Medicines (ATOM) coalition in May, which includes AstraZeneca, BD, BeiGene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi and Teva as its partners.

“This is a first for cancer treatment anywhere and demonstrates that the combined efforts of the private and public sectors can pave the way to help save millions of lives,” ATOM co-chair Anil D-Cruz said in a separate statement.

On other fronts, the Medicines Patent Pool secured a licensing deal with Viiv Healthcare for long-acting injectable cabotegravir for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Earlier on, a group of 35 generics manufacturers signed agreements with the Medicines Patent Pool to supply Paxlovid generics to 95 low- and middle-income countries and with 27 manufacturers to produce Merck’s COVID-19 pill to help in the fight against the pandemic.

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