To this end, UNITAID has committed up to $4 million for one year. The Patent Pool may license substances and technologies received from patent holders to pharmaceutical producers to supply certain low and middle income developing countries (although licenses will be available without discrimination as to the geographical location of the producer). The rationale behind pooling patented technologies lies in the fact that until now, patents on the most recent drugs owned by different companies have blocked the development of more affordable generic versions of these drugs, as well as of fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) by generic or R&D-based producers.