Not-for-Profit Organization for Management of Maximized Public Sector Benefits

Not-for-Profit Organization
for Management of Maximized Public Sector Benefits in Health Care

- Creator of Innovative Approaches to Intellectual Property Management
of Health Products for Improved Public Sector Access -
- Partner in Public-Private-Partnerships with Pharmaceutical Manufacturers -

Overview - The Origin                  
Concept Foundation is an internationally operating not-for-profit organization with head office in Bangkok, Thailand.  The foundation was created to help improving the health of people living in developing countries around the world.  The Foundation's beginnings are summarized in a report written in 1988 by the United Nations / World Health Organization's Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (WHO/HRP):
"With the realization that large commercial pharmaceutical companies are not interested in sponsoring several of WHO/ HRP's new contraceptive technologies, WHO/ HRP is faced with immediate problems in completing development of these products.
After much deliberation within the World Health Organization, United Nations Population Fund and the World Bank, and as a direct response to the need of the WHO Special Programme, a decision has been taken to create an independent non-profit entity for the management of intellectual property relating to products required for the public sector in developing countries."
The establishment of the Concept Foundation provided a mechanism to turn intellectual property, developed or owned by international organizations, into competitive and cost-effective products that could be distributed at lowest possible cost especially into the public sector health care channels of developing countries. This intellectual property is typically owned in form of
  • data from medical research and clinical trials,
  • data from pharmacological studies,
  • manufacturing instructions, etc.

In some cases, the intellectual property owned by international organizations such as WHO is received through IP donations from pharmaceutical manufacturers to utilize it for public sector health care services in the developing world.

The fundamental principle of the mechanism under which Concept Foundation operates utilizes the "Out Licensing" model for the benefit of developing countries. As a first step, Concept Foundation enters into a master license agreement with the research-oriented IP originator to receive ownership rights for this intellectual property. Thus, it becomes the custodian for effective use of the IP rights on behalf of the originator. Under the IP ownership rights received, Concept Foundation is put into the legal position of a master licensor to generic manufacturers  in the developing world to establish subsequently  specific sub license agreements with selected companies as  commercial partners for manufacturing and marketing of the products.

The role of Concept Foundation as master licensor  to generic manufacturers provides also the platform to carry out all responsibilities under its own obligations for the original IP, especially all work necessary to ensure that the products are manufactured by all sub licensees under international quality and manufacturing standards, properly registered and licensed, distributed and marketed with appropriate training and counseling services.

Through its practical approach to licensing out of IP for pharmaceuticals and diagnostics Concept Foundation has established  successful collaborations with many pharmaceutical companies worldwide. These Public-Private-Partnerships are guided by a set of ground rules established through the sub license agreements that ensure to successfully combine the commercial goals of the private-sector licensees with the humanitarian, public-sector oriented goals under the IP management of Concept Foundation.

Concept Foundation mandates through all of its license agreements with pharmaceutical companies the wide availability of its license products to people living in developing countries, at preferential public sector prices.