Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) have agreed to extend negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex, a key part of the WHO Pandemic Agreement. Additional time is needed to finalize the framework for a better response to future pandemics, according to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. The PABS system aims to ensure equal sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their use. The outcome of this work will be presented to the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA) later this month.