IFPMA
25.9.2018 09:02:13 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
WIPO and the research-based pharmaceutical industry today launched a new online tool designed to help procurement agencies better understand the global patent status of medicines.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180925005088/en/
The Patent Information Initiative for Medicines (Pat-INFORMED) is a unique resource where patent holders provide information about patents covering approved medicines through a free, open access database.
This new public database became operational today, along with a platform where procurement agencies can make direct enquiries to companies.
Pat-INFORMED is a partnership between WIPO and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, IFPMA, the global trade association representing the research-based pharmaceutical industry. Pat-INFORMED originated in the industry’s efforts to add clarity to patent information about medicines. WIPO’s globally recognized expertise in the organization and public dissemination of patent data will make an important contribution to the accessibility of patent information.
WIPO is hosting the database and providing the resources to ensure its continued development, while IFPMA is working closely with the 20 leading research-based biopharmaceutical companies that have backed this initiative to help ensure a consistent and coordinated approach.
“WIPO is committed to increasing the transparency of the patent system and ensuring it works to benefit humankind. 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 for people across the globe. Such partnerships are critical to success in the field of public health," said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “WIPO is pleased to be contributing its extensive expertise in making complex patent information simpler and more accessible and looks forward to further collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry to ensure the success of this initiative.”
While information about patent applications and grants reside in the public domain, resources that directly link patents to medicines already on the market are scarce and limited. Tools that directly link granted patents to medicines are only available publicly in certain countries (e.g. the USA’s ‘Orange Book’) or through private third-party databases. Pat-INFORMED aims to help close these gaps and make patent research easier, faster and more accessible to a wider array of health workers.
Importantly, Pat-INFORMED also offers procurement agencies a direct communication channel for follow-on enquiries to participating companies. Each of the participating companies, currently 20, has agreed to engage in discussions with official procurement agencies that are seeking more detailed information about granted patents on specific products.
So far, Pat-INFORMED houses information on over 14,000 individual patents, for 600 patent families and 169 INNs, unique names that are globally recognized and used to identify pharmaceutical substances or active pharmaceutical ingredients within medicines that cover a wide range of conditions.
“This initiative is a practical way of reducing the complexity around access to patent information, something health experts have long been calling for. By easing access to patent information for public health authorities, Pat-INFORMED can help them take more informed decisions about procurement options available to them, and will be an important contribution to global health,” said Thomas Cueni, Director General IFPMA. “The task of retrieving and uploading over 14,000 individual national patents has been considerable; but now that the process and platform are in place, I’m confident that we can continue to increase the database’s scope to more INNs than the current 160.”
“More-efficient procurement processes save lives by getting medicines to people more quickly,” said Wesley Kreft, Director, Global Supply Chain, i+solutions, a Netherlands-based not-for-profit organization specializing in medical supply chain management for developing countries, including many recipients of Global Fund grants. Speaking of his work, Mr. Kreft said: “Pat-INFORMED has the potential to reduce by 30 percent the time required to procure medicines for low and middle income countries.”
Pat-INFORMED features patent information for small molecule drugs within oncology; hepatitis C, cardiovascular, HIV, diabetes, and respiratory therapy areas; and any products on the WHO Essential Medicines List that are not within these therapy areas. In a second phase, the initiative will extend to all therapeutic areas and explore the inclusion of complex therapeutics.
The launch took place at an event on the sidelines of the 2018 Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO.
About WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. A specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 191 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society's evolving needs. It provides business services for obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and resolving disputes. It delivers capacity-building programs to help developing countries benefit from using IP. And it provides free access to unique knowledge banks of IP information.
About IFPMA
IFPMA represents research-based pharmaceutical companies and associations across the globe. The research-based pharmaceutical industry's two million employees discover, develop, and deliver medicines and vaccines that improve the lives of patients worldwide. Based in Geneva, IFPMA has official relations with the United Nations and contributes industry expertise to help the global health community find solutions that improve global health.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180925005088/en/
Contact:
IFPMA Sadia Kaenzig, Tel: +41 79 513 4442 Communications Manager: Email: s.kaenzig@ifpma.org or IFPMA Morgane de Pol, Tel: +41 79 962 11 95 Communications Manager Email: m.depol@ifpma.org or Media Relations WIPO: Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61 / 338 72 24 E-mail: Publicinf@wipo.int
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
FEINDEF 27 Accelerates Commercialisation, Surpassing FEINDEF 25’s Total Exhibition Area by 25% With One Year to Go17.6.2026 13:41:00 CEST | Press release
FEINDEF 27 is expected to exceed 89,000 m² of total exhibition area, representing a 46% increase compared to 2025 and further strengthening its position as one of Europe’s leading international defence and security exhibitions. 37% of the exhibitors already confirmed are new participants. Of these, 26% are international companies, reinforcing FEINDEF’s global dimension and its role as a platform for dialogue, cooperation and business opportunities at an international level. Companies returning from the previous edition have increased their contracted exhibition area for FEINDEF 27 by 30%, consolidating confidence in FEINDEF as a global showcase for the sector. This trend was already reflected in FEINDEF 25, where 86% of exhibitors stated their intention to return. One year ahead of FEINDEF 27, FEINDEF, Spain’s International Defence and Security Exhibition, continues to maintain a strong commercialisation pace, outperforming previous editions at the same stage. The exhibition has alread
GenNx360 Capital Partners Promotes Pratik Rajeevan to Partner17.6.2026 13:00:00 CEST | Press release
GenNx360 Capital Partners (“GenNx360”), a New York City-based private equity firm investing in U.S. lower middle market industrial services and business services companies, is thrilled to announce the promotion of Pratik Rajeevan to Partner. Pratik has significant transaction experience having invested in over ten platform companies and 30 add-on investments during his tenure at GenNx360. His experience includes investments in aerospace and defense, utility and environmental services, and testing and inspection services. Pratik is a key leader in investments in NVI, Shenandoah, and Aeron in the GenNx360 Fund IV portfolio. Pratik led successful investments and exits in Miller Environmental and Aero3 in GenNx360 Fund III. Most recently, Pratik was responsible for the firm’s $2 billion exit from Precision Aviation Group, a global aerospace and defense maintenance and repair business in GenNx360 Fund IV. “Pratik is a disciplined and thoughtful investor with significant execution capabiliti
Vercel Brings New Agent Framework, Full-Stack Capabilities, and Enterprise Controls to Its Agentic Infrastructure Platform17.6.2026 12:13:00 CEST | Press release
As agents become the primary way software is built and deployed, Vercel connects its frontend, backend, and agent tooling into a single platform for shipping and running agents at scale. Today at Ship, its annual conference, Vercel introduced a set of new products that deepen its agentic infrastructure platform trusted by DoorDash, Helly Hansen, OpenAI, Stripe, and The Weather Company. Founder and CEO Guillermo Rauch and other Vercel leaders unveiled the lineup on stage, anchored by three shifts the products address: agents are now the dominant way software gets deployed, every application is becoming agentic, and enterprises need to run agents in production securely and at scale. The transition is well underway. Six months ago, fewer than three percent of deployments to Vercel infrastructure were triggered by coding agents. Agents now account for more than half. Token volume through Vercel's AI Gateway has grown from roughly two trillion to twenty trillion per month over the same peri
NIQ Introduces NIQ Cadence: A Compound AI Operating System for Marketing Effectiveness17.6.2026 12:00:00 CEST | Press release
One system unifies NIQ’s global data, models, and knowledge so marketers move from insight to impact faster, with deeper intelligence, at scale. NIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a global leader in consumer intelligence, today introduced NIQ Cadence, a compound AI operating system built to change how organizations measure marketing performance, optimize budgets, and act on what the data tells them. NIQ Cadence brings data and intelligence into one continuous environment, moving marketers off fragmented reports and onto a single system that empowers decision making. Marketing has never been more complex. Channels keep multiplying, data sits in silos, and the pressure to prove ROI keeps climbing. As a result, most teams still stitch insight and action together by hand, losing time and confidence at every handoff. NIQ Cadence closes that gap with one system where measurement and decision-making finally run together. “Marketing leaders don’t need more reports. They need a better rhythm,” said Jason Tate, G
Winning With AI Requires Organizational Transformation, Not Speed of Adoption, Finds New Arthur D. Little Report17.6.2026 12:00:00 CEST | Press release
To successfully embrace the power of AI, businesses need to remove organizational complexity and eliminate unnecessary work, rather than simply using it for fragmented, incremental improvements. Boards must act now to deliver this. That is the key message from AI-First or Disrupted: Beating the Nightmare Competitor, a new report from Arthur D. Little (ADL) based on concrete examples from leading organizations. Within three to five years, AI-first competitors will make faster decisions, have flatter organizations, and operate at lower costs. They will not just optimize handovers between teams, approvals, and reconciliation work; they will eliminate these complex processes entirely. AI is completely changing the economics of work and value creation, removing the need for coordination across multiple teams, while also enabling adaptive, predictive, and personalized products and services. This delivers both lower operational costs and a fundamentally stronger value proposition. However, mo
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom