Pat-INFORMED – The Gateway to Medicine Patent Information

The Patent Information Initiative for Medicines (Pat-INFORMED) provides a service to the global health community, particularly those involved in procurement of medicines, by facilitating easy access to medicine patent information. The data is provided directly by the biopharmaceutical companies and hosted by WIPO.

Anyone can search the Pat-INFORMED database simply by entering a medicine’s INN (International Nonproprietary Name) to obtain relevant information about its patent status in a particular country. Uniquely, Pat-INFORMED also provides a facility for procurement agencies to make follow-up inquiries directly with participating companies. While it is not a tool to provide Freedom to Operate analysis, it facilitates access to patent information and can improve efficiency in procurement processes.

Access the Pat-INFORMED database

Video: Pat-INFORMED explained

Which therapeutic areas does Pat-INFORMED cover?

Pat-INFORMED currently provides information on key patents for all small-molecule products submitted by participants in the Initiative. The following therapeutic areas are covered:

HIV/ AIDS, Cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes, Hepatitis C, Oncology, Respiratory conditions; and
All products on the WHO Essential Medicines List (EML) that are not within these six areas.

The database is being gradually expanded to cover other small molecules products outside these areas.

Who can use Pat-INFORMED?

Anyone can search Pat-INFORMED. It is of particular use to pharmaceutical procurement services and related specialists of:

National pharmaceutical services
Ministries of health
National patent offices
International procurement agencies

The follow-on inquiry facilities is reserved to procurement agencies. Companies’ responses are not confidential.

More questions? Read the full list of Pat-INFORMED FAQs.

Testimonials

"Pat-INFORMED is a practical way of reducing the complexity around access to patent information, something health experts have long been calling for.

It will help governments make better informed decisions about procurement options available to them, and will be an important contribution to global health."
— Mr. Thomas Cueni, IFPMA Director General
"National patent offices are the primary resource of information regarding patents, but Pat-INFORMED is specifically designed to provide such information to health agencies and others who need it. "
— Ms. Alicja Adamczak, President, Patent Office of the Republic of Poland
"Developing countries use international procurement to purchase medicines for their national healthcare systems.

Our goal is to purchase the best quality medicines at the most affordable prices, and knowing the patent status of a particular product is important information that Pat-INFORMED will help us identify."
— Mr. Issake Sondé, Directeur Exécutif, Association Africaine des Centrales d’Achats de Médicaments Essentiels
"Pat-INFORMED will reduce the time required to go through the procurement process for medicines and thus improve the availability of medicines and help save lives."
— Mr. Wesley Kreft, Director, Global Supply Chain, i+solutions
"Patents provide the foundation for high-risk investment in new medicines. Patents are public, but the patent status of any given medicine can be complex. Pat-INFORMED increases transparency surrounding a medicine’s patent situation."
— Ms. Alisa Harbin, Head, Global Intellectual Property, Novartis
"Pat-INFORMED is an important contribution to greater patent transparency on pharmaceuticals. It complements MedsPaL [Medicines Patents and Licenses Database], which sources its data primarily from public records."
— Mr. Charles Gore, Executive Director, Medicine Patents Pool

Participants

Pat-INFORMED is an initiative of WIPO, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and 20 leading, research-based biopharmaceutical companies.

These 20 companies chose to voluntarily provide information on key patents for their approved pharmaceutical products in therapeutic categories covered by Pat-INFORMED. They also commit to respond to bona fide inquiries from procurement agencies.

WIPO builds on its large database expertise to hosts this data, providing links to Patentscope when possible. Patent data is provided and updated directly by the companies.