Complementary Efforts

The Open COVID Pledge Coalition recognizes and salutes efforts complementary to our own that also encourage the free sharing of patents and copyrights in an effort to diagnose, prevent, contain and treat COVID-19. Some of these efforts do not identify or license intellectual property directly but instead include calls to action and the adoption of statements of commitment to supporting COVID-19 work. In every case, the Coalition has determined that the overarching principles of these similar programs and initiatives align squarely with those reflected in the Pledge. 

Please note that this is not a comprehensive listing of all similar efforts. For a more complete listing, visit http://madisonian.net/covid-19/. (Listed by date of announcement.)

Calls to Action and Coordinated Initiatives

World Health Organization: COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) (May 29, 2020)

The World Health Organization, in partnership with the Government of Costa Rica and 40 WHO Member State co-sponsors of the Solidarity Call to Action, has called to action the global community to voluntarily share knowledge, intellectual property and data necessary for COVID-19. C-TAP is intended to provide a means to accelerate the development of products needed to fight COVID-19 as well as to accelerate the scale-up of manufacturing and the removal of barriers to access in order to make products available globally. The Open COVID Pledge is an implementing partner and is represented on the C-TAP Steering Committee. More information. 

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), the Center for Artistic Activism (C4AA) and #FreeTheVaccine (April 11, 2020)

UAEM is a global network of university students who believe that universities have an opportunity and a responsibility to improve global access to and the affordability of life-saving medicines developed on their campuses with taxpayer funds. In March 2020 in partnership with C4AA, the two groups began organizing a team of 300 participants from 29 countries to launch the Free The Vaccine campaign, with the overall goal to ensure that publicly funded diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines for COVID-19 are sustainably priced, available to all, and free at the point of delivery. The participants along with the global network are urging universities to commit to the Open COVID Pledge as a contribution to this effort. The team is also tracking university sign ons via this online tool which tracks public funds destined for Covid-19 research at universities in multiple countries worldwide.

World Health Organization: Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator (April 24, 2020)

The WHO, together with an initial group of global health actors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, Global Fund, UNITAID, and the Wellcome Trust, has launched a global collaboration to accelerate the development production and equitable access to new COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. The initiative calls on the global community and political leaders to donate necessary resources to accelerate COVID-19 solutions. More information.

Technology Access Partnership (May 12, 2020)

The United Nations Technology Bank, together with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Health Organization (WHO), launched the Tech Access Partnership (TAP). The goals of the project are to strengthen developing country responses and increase access to lifesaving health technologies by facilitating local manufacturing capacity and technology transfer. The effort is expected to provide a digital warehouse of product information such as manufacturing and design specifications, provide technical support for manufacturers and promote partnerships between companies and public and private sector innovators. More information here and here.

Pledge and Licensing Efforts

Japan-based Technology Companies (May 7, 2020)

47 Japanese technology companies announced the free availability of their intellectual property in support of stopping the COVID-19 pandemic. Each agrees not to enforce their patents and copyrights related to the “diagnosis, prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19.” The founding companies include Ajinomoto Co. Inc., Canon, Chanel GK, Kyoto University’s Center for Genomic Medicine, Nissan, Toyota and Yahoo Japan, and many dozens more have since signed on. More information and the group’s Open COVID-19 Declaration.

Note that others include specific licensing or non assertion terms, and in those cases they have not been found compatible with our licenses and therefore cannot be terms and cannot be listed as OCL-Compatible or OCL-Alternative.