WHO COVID-19 Technology Access Pool

WHO COVID-19 Technology Access Pool

WHO / Rodger Bosch
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In May 2020, WHO, the Government of Costa Rica and other partners launched the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) to facilitate faster equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 health products for people in all countries. C-TAP, which is currently endorsed by 45 WHO Member States, was a response to the global Solidarity Call to Action. Its implementing partners include UNDP, the Medicines Patent Pool, the UN Technology Bank and Unitaid.

C-TAP provides a single global platform for the developers of COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines and other health products to share their intellectual property, knowledge, and data with quality-assured manufacturers through public health-driven, transparent, voluntary, non-exclusive and transparent licences. It also provides support for technology transfer agreements. Through voluntary licensing and patent pooling, patent holders can reach new markets and scale up production using untapped capacity of manufacturers around the world, while securing appropriate royalties.

Support and technical assistance from WHO and other C-TAP partners allows many more manufacturers around the world to produce lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines and other products that meet international standards of quality, safety, and efficacy, while allowing underserved countries to benefit from increased availability and affordability of COVID-19 health products.

Technologies offered to C-TAP

COVID 19 candidate technologies/products are included into C-TAP technology transfer pool following a technical assessment of the relevant information and data made available to C-TAP. Candidate technologies from all C-TAP streams (IVDs, vaccines, medical devices and medicines) are categorized into 5 C-TAP Categories on the basis of provided evidence of product/technology’s potential to meet the clinical/performance/intended use/label claims, as applicable, i.e. the evidence of already meeting, or the potential to meet the relevant applicable regulatory requirements. 

The quality of evidence largely depends on the stage of development and manufacture of candidate technology/finished therapeutic good i.e. whether the candidate technology is at the proof of concept stage, or at a prototype manufacturing stage with some performance data/clinical evidence available, or at the fully developed and manufactured product stage with either an Emergency Use or full regulatory approval from a national/international regulatory authority or WHO. 

 

Join C-TAP

C-TAP Launch Photo

C-TAP was launched by WHO, in partnership with the Government of Costa Rica, under a global Solidarity Call to Action endorsed by nearly 40 Member States. WHO C-TAP implementing partners include the Medicines Patent Pool, Open COVID Pledge, UN Technology Bank and Unitaid. Developers of COVID-19 health technologies and holders of related knowledge, intellectual property and data are invited to "share their intellectual property, knowledge and data, and join the Solidarity Call to Action.”

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Endorsements of the Solidarity Call to Action
Solidarity Call to Action

How C-TAP works