Read on Twitter
Respectfully, this is wrong on several levels. https://twitter.com/IrfanDhalla/status/1336891598697869312
1. The development of Covid19 drugs + vaccines had little to nothing to do with IP rights.
And everything to do with the vast sums of money that governments have poured into Covid19 R&D.
(Not to mention indemnification clauses attached to the $)
And everything to do with the vast sums of money that governments have poured into Covid19 R&D.
(Not to mention indemnification clauses attached to the $)
2. The expedited regulatory processes, like @GovCanHealth Interim Orders, were also a far bigger factor than IP.
3. As an incentive, IP simply doesn't rate.
Most of the IP connected to the vaccines was secured long ago. And it did little to motivate much R&D prior to the pandemic. The R&D that had been done prior to Covid was instead driven by public funding.
Most of the IP connected to the vaccines was secured long ago. And it did little to motivate much R&D prior to the pandemic. The R&D that had been done prior to Covid was instead driven by public funding.
4. All that said, it's not obvious to me that the waiver being sought will work.
First, the bigger IP related barrier to scaling up vaccine production is trade secrets covering manufacturing processes, etc., not patents....
First, the bigger IP related barrier to scaling up vaccine production is trade secrets covering manufacturing processes, etc., not patents....
Unless you have access to those secrets, scaling up manufacturing may prove impossible
The WTO waiver is intended to stop the enforcement of IP. But that only works if you have access to the knowledge in the 1st place, which by definition, may not be the case with trade secrets
The WTO waiver is intended to stop the enforcement of IP. But that only works if you have access to the knowledge in the 1st place, which by definition, may not be the case with trade secrets
Second, some of the expedited processes that have been put into place create additional barriers to a generic supply of Covid interventions...
Specifically, Canada's Interim Order, which served as the basis of the authorization of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, expressly precludes the regulator from authorizing a generic version of the vaccine.
That means that for any company -- other than Pfizer -- to produce the vaccine, they would have to produce their own data in support of authorization. Which no generic company can or will do.
That clause was added in order to preserve the sponsor's control over the supply
That clause was added in order to preserve the sponsor's control over the supply
So, again, it was not IP but government financing, procurement, and regulatory policy choices that drove the rapid R&D we have seen.
