Center for Global Health R&D Policy Assessment

Normally, product developers reap profit by establishing market exclusivity for their innovations; they secure a track I patent. Although the profit earned is a rough estimate of how much society values the innovation, the profit will not reflect the innovation’s actual impact on health at large. Track II patents would theoretically reward developers for the overall impact of their products, and the developers would forego market exclusivity. The Health Impact Fund, which would proportionally reward developers out of a fixed fund, is based on this principle.