Vaccine authors have warned U.S. officials that the temporary abandonment of Covid-19 shooting patents would risk giving China and Russia a new technology, according to people familiar with the interviews.
As Washington’s industry lobbying has intensified, companies have warned in private meetings with U.S. trade and White House officials that the abandonment of intellectual property rights will allow China and Russia to exploit platforms like mRNA that could be used for other vaccines or even therapeutics. for conditions like cancer and heart problems in the future.
J&J, Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax did not respond to requests for comment.
The country proposed a measure to temporarily revoke the patent rights for pandemic-related medical products in October at the World Trade Organization in India and South Africa, which has since been backed by nearly 60 countries.
While the Donald Trump administration opposed the resignation of the WTO, along with the UK, EU and Switzerland, US President Joe Biden’s chief trade officer Katherine Tai shook US pharmaceutical companies as he appeared to be in a position to review that position.
Tai and his staff have been discussing WTO IP rules in recent weeks with pharmaceutical companies, unions, advocacy groups and Seth Berkley, director general of the UN-sponsored Gavi vaccine alliance. His office said the agency is “examining all avenues” and is “evaluating the effectiveness” of the waiver.
In a report at the WTO meeting on vaccine equity earlier this month, Tai said the government and the private sector should do their part to fulfill the “spirit” of the Parties to the Trade in Intellectual Property Rights. (Travel) agreement, born out of the HIV crisis.
“We look forward to hearing more today to meet the health needs of developing countries where the market has not redeveloped,” Tai said at the WTO meeting. “Within that, we need to consider what changes and reforms can be made to reflect what we have learned from our trade rules.”
His speech has heightened tensions between pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), and a vaccine manufacturer has complained to White House officials about Tai’s remarks to the WTO.
The White House has not responded to a request for a response.
USTR said its “top priority” is to “save lives” and “working with our global partners to explore pragmatic and effective steps to increase the production and equitable distribution of vaccines.”
Whether or not to temporarily waive intellectual protection is discussed in the WTO because rich countries are injecting their populations much faster than developing economies because they have made an effort to get enough doses.
However, pharmaceutical companies have stressed that they are already doing everything they can to expand production, and that global manufacturing bottles, not patents, are slowing the pace of vaccine production.
Pharmacists in the fight over IP are once again under pressure as drug price reform rises on the Biden administration’s agenda. It includes proposals to link drug prices to other industrialized countries, which are usually much cheaper, and Medicare, a pension plan for seniors, allows prices to be negotiated.
Chinese and Russian vaccines use different approaches to mRNA, a technology first deployed in a product approved for the Covid-19 vaccine.
While Russia’s Sputnik showed strong effectiveness in its assessment in The Lancet, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention seems concerned that their homeowners are not effective enough, even as the Chinese state media quickly backed down. comments.
Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna vaccine producers expect to use many other mRNAs in the range of shootings and drugs after Covid-19 vaccines became so effective. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told the Wall Street Journal last month that the technology had “a dramatic impact and dramatic potential.”
However, Biden has come under political pressure to renounce travel and allow developing countries to make their own copies. vaccines developed by pharmaceutical companies without fear of being sued for IP violations.
Several U.S. lawmakers, including Earl Blumenauer, Rosa DeLauro, Jan Schakowsky, Bernie Sanders, Tammy Baldwin, and Chuy Garcia, have called on the Biden administration to temporarily suspend IP rights.
A group of 175 former world leaders and Nobel laureates have also resigned, urging the US to take “urgent measures” to suspend the IP. On Friday, the Public Citizen Global Trade Watch trade group and other defense groups said a petition in favor of the waiver was signed by 2 million people.
