WHO Health Technology Access Pool

HTAP will maintain a focus on pandemic preparedness and response but at the same time promote access to health products that respond to other public health priorities by actively targeting platform technologies and other health products with relevance during and outside health emergencies. This approach will amplify the public health value of HTAP investments as well as the attractiveness of licensed technologies to recipient manufacturers in realizing greater market opportunities and financial sustainability in the inter-pandemic period. The parallel WHO - Medicines Patent Pool announcement on the licensing of a rapid diagnostic test platform technology serves as an example of such an approach.

Other important attributes of the HTAP model include:

• Engagement over the full technology value chain. The HTAP operating model takes into consideration the various steps and types of support required over the value chain to translate licensed technologies into sub-licensed, quality-assured products with an anticipated market.  The HTAP secretariat will concentrate its efforts on the first two steps in the value chain - business case assessment and the licensing of technologies through the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) - while undertaking a brokering, coordination, and monitoring function in the support provided by sublicensed manufacturers by partners.
• Confirming the public health business case. A decision to target a technology would follow a robust technical, feasibility and market assessment at the first step in the process based on strategic areas of focus which consider WHO public health priorities, available resources and partnerships, anticipated demand, and the unique contribution HTAP could make in addressing an access gap.
• Developing and strengthening partnerships. Partnerships are essential to providing the support needed along the technology value-chain. HTAP will serve in an enabling and coordinating capacity that recognizes and fully leverages existing roles and responsibilities, building synergies across WHO Divisions, Regions and WHO championed programmes, as well as with external partners.
• Establishing a strategic plan and areas of work.  HTAP work will be guided by a strategic plan. Broadly speaking, HTAP will focus resources along two streams of work: 
  i) Identifying and pursuing the technologies and developers that hold the greatest promise in addressing health technology access gaps. While further work is required in this regard, experience and preliminary analysis suggests this would include
  publicly funded organizations and upstream technologies
  diagnostics and other medical devices.
  ii) Undertaking the longer term normative, policy and advocacy work required to bring about systemic change through the adoption by governments and other public-oriented funders of appropriate incentive packages and access provisions in funding agreements. Longer term will also include strategic engagement with publicly funded institutions involved in upstream technology development and downstream manufacturers capable of absorbing and producing secured technologies.
• Adopting a nuanced approach.  C-TAP experience has shown that a differentiated approach to licensing will be required to secure mature health products of known public health value, as opposed to upstream technologies.  Furthermore, achieving sustainable diversified production of licensed technologies requires consideration of market dynamics and potential saturation.  Towards this end, HTAP will work with technology holders and partners on technology transfer implementation strategies tailored to the circumstance.
• Harnessing and aligning WHO resources.  The use of a structured and adaptable model and process will help ensure the necessary expertise, resources and programmes are leveraged and aligned in setting priorities, developing enabling policy and providing support to HTAP activities over the value chain.  The same considerations hold true for partnerships with external entities that form part of the larger health product access ecosystem.
• Building the infrastructure and governance structure. This will include the staffing of a senior dedicated position to manage and monitor the performance of HTAP; establishing a WHO-led steering group with defined purpose and a membership that reflects the range of stakeholders critical to the success of HTAP and implementing an evaluation framework to define and measure success. The development and publication of clear operating procedures, guidance and advocacy material will also be critical to the success of HTAP and the launch of the new model.

WHO  will provide further detail on how HTAP will operate and the technologies it will target later in the first quarter of 2024.   

The official launch of HTAP is tentatively planned for Q2 2024.  In the interim, WHO will adopt the principles and approach described above in evaluating opportunities to secure health technologies and expand regional or global production capacity.