Category Coronavirus

Compulsory licensing vs. the IP waiver: what is the best way to end the COVID-19 pandemic?

[Olga Gurgula] This policy brief examines the currently discussed proposals at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that aim to resolve the problem of the production shortages of COVID-19 vaccines. This includes the two key submissions, i.e. the proposal by South Africa and India on the Intellectual Property (IP) waiver, partially supported by the United States (US), and the European Union (EU) proposal to clarify the use of compulsory licensing.

Medicines Patent Pool signs first Covid-19 licence agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme: Others must follow

[Medicines Law & Policy] The Medicines Patent Pool, a UN-backed organisation whose mission is to expand access to essential medicines around the world, today announced its first agreement on a Covid-19 therapy. The deal comes in the form of a licence and technology transfer agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) on molnupiravir, an investigational therapy for Covid-19 patients. The Medicines Patent Pool expanded its mandate to include Covid-19 technologies in March 2020.

WTO Extends Measures for LDCs to Access Knowledge, But Why not Go the Whole Way?

[Teresa Hackett] When members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently agreed to extend the transition period by which Least Developed Countries (LDCs) must apply WTO rules on intellectual property, it was a welcome decision. However, it fell short of what LDCs had requested, and left open the wider issue of the need for special and differential treatment after a country graduates from LDC status, especially relevant given the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

EU’s Proposal on Convergence on WTO TRIPS Waiver only addresses compulsory licensing on patents, ignores trade secrets, and is wholly inadequate to solve inequitable access

[Brook Baker] The EU draft proposal entitled “Ideas on the points of convergence on the TRIPS issues for discussion” (below) tries to make a silk purse out of a cow’s ear, by relying on moderately revised compulsory licensing on patents as the sole IP solution to the glaring problem of artificially restricted supplies, profiteering prices, and grossly inequitable distribution of COVID-19 health products. 

Open Letter to Presidents of Latin America and the Caribbean: COVID-19 Vaccine Access

[Civil society letter endorsed by 81 organizations and individuals] ...Vaccine production has been insufficient to vaccinate the entire world population, therefore we consider that it is necessary to restructure the acquisition and production models to improve the availability of doses at the most favorable price for our region, which at the same time is going through a serious economic crisis. Therefore, it is imperative that pharmaceutical companies share technology and knowledge with other qualified producers as soon as possible and it is important that the countries of the region take a firm position towards the industry.

Accelerating COVID-19 Vaccine Production via Involuntary Technology Transfer

[Olga Gurgula] This policy brief explains that the currently discussed proposals at the WTO related to increasing the production of COVID-19 vaccines, including the EU proposal to clarify the use of compulsory licensing and the submission by South Africa and India on the intellectual property (IP) waiver, require complementary mechanisms to rapidly improve the production of COVID-19 vaccines that are urgently needed today.

The People’s Vaccine: Intellectual Property, Access to Essential Medicines, and the Coronavirus COVID-19

[Mattthew Rimmer] Abstract: This paper explores intellectual property and access to essential medicines in the context of the coronavirus COVID-19 public health crisis. It considers policy solutions to counteract vaccine nationalism and profiteering by pharmaceutical companies and vaccine developers. This paper considers the campaign for the development of a People's Vaccine led by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, UNAIDS, Oxfam and Public Citizen.

Applause as Australia Backs Covid Vaccine Patent Waiver

[Julia Conley] Vaccine equity advocates on Wednesday cheered as the Australian government bowed to a months-long pressure campaign demanding a suspension of intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, after the country's top trade official said he officially supports the push for a "people's vaccine." Trade Minister Dan Tehan told a group of advocates in a private meeting on Tuesday that the Australian government would support a trade-related aspects of intellectual property (TRIPS) waiver proposal, and later confirmed the news to the press.

The Overlooked Role of Copyright in Securing Vaccine Distribution Equity

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the globe, we need to consider every avenue that could improve access to critical medicines needed to fight this deadly disease. The primary focus on securing patent waivers under TRIPS makes perfect sense because patents have been the traditional basis for protecting pharmaco-medical innovations, including the technologies for production and delivery. Compulsory access to both patents and trade secrets is critical. But we overlook a crucial weapon in the fight for vaccine distribution equity when we give short shrift to the equally important role that copyright can play in bringing the full weight of technology to bear on this deadly scourge.

Repairing Medical Equipment in Times of Pandemic

[Ofer Tur-Sinai and Leah Chan Grinvald] Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world since early 2020 has underscored the need for an effective right to repair medical equipment. As healthcare systems have been pushed to the limit, keeping critical medical equipment (such as ventilators) in working order has become a matter of life and death. Unfortunately, the ability of hospitals and other health care providers to service and fix their medical equipment is often hindered by the tight control that original equipment manufacturers keep over repair of their products. On top of direct contractual restrictions on repair, one of the major difficulties encountered by hospital-based and third-party service providers is the lack of access to service manuals, service keys, schematics, replacement parts, and repair tools. The ability to block access to these critical items is abetted, in large part, by intellectual property laws.

EU Proposals regarding Article 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

[Nirmalya Syam] This Policy Brief presents an analysis of the proposal by the European Union (EU) with regards to Article 31bis of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), as part of a Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health in the circumstances of a pandemic. It discusses the EU’s proposed clarifications, why Article31bis does not provide an effective solution to promote access to pharmaceutical products and possible options.