Intellectual Property and COVID-19 vaccines

There are a few intellectual property rights that are important regarding the field of medicine and vaccines. Patents, specifically, are particularly important in their development. Patents give legal protection to inventions and medicine. A lot of research and development goes into the science of medicines for the protection of the world population.

Patent protection grants an exclusive right to protect an invention or a process for a twenty (20) year period. This protection means the owner of the patent gains the right to stop anyone from using, selling, or manufacturing the invention in question. Patents can however be licensed to another entity, whether it’s an organization or individual person, to sell, manufacture or use the invention.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought forward the discussion on intellectual property rights and vaccine development. Developing nations proposed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in late 2020 to temporarily waive intellectual property rights under the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Treaty (TRIPS) for the Covid-19 vaccine and medical equipment required in the fight against the virus.

The proposed temporary waiver would allow more countries to manufacture vaccines. Despite the severity of the pandemic this proposal was met with criticism and backlash from big pharmaceutical companies and countries which include the UK and EU. The USA has supported the proposal, while some countries have argued that it is a threat to innovation and can decrease revenue.

The pandemic has left a path of destruction for low-income countries, while in developed countries, vaccination programmes have been increasing and moving at a fast pace. Access to vaccines by low-income countries have been difficult, and the lack of easy access to these vaccines is quite noticeable. Hence why a proposal to waive the patents on the vaccine has been made: so low-income countries can also manufacture the vaccines without facing legal consequences of patent infringement.

Some objections to the proposal came from the head of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, Thomas Cueni. He is concerned that the safety and high quality of the vaccine may be compromised if such technology transfer happens as the ‘know-how’ of the manufacturing process is also needed. This international federation has also noted that companies have already voluntarily shared the technology with qualified partners. The proposed patent waiver is not addressing other vaccine production issues, such as trade barriers on materials needed for the manufacturing process, as well as shortages/scarcity.

COVAX

The COVAX scheme is run primarily by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organisations. Its main mission is to provide equitable access to vaccines to lower-income countries. COVAX works with manufacturers of vaccines and governments, who have donated money and extra doses from their own supply. COVAX aims to deliver vaccines to 20% of the population in low to medium income countries. Currently over 100 million doses of vaccines have been delivered.

Director-General of WHO Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in a commentary in March of this year that a global pandemic is an emergency and “flexibilities in trade regulation exists for emergencies”. He has agreed with the patent waiver for vaccines as proposed as the pandemic has destroyed lives, and is wreaking havoc on world economies, people are losing their jobs and “children’s development and education have been stalled”.

This situation is still developing as negotiations are ongoing.

Disclaimer: This blog post and website contains general information for educational purposes only and should not be construed as or substituted for legal advice. If you require specific legal advice please, contact a suitably qualified attorney.