In a break from longstanding US policy, President Joe Biden’s administration has backed a proposal that would temporarily lift intellectual property (IP) rights for COVID-19 vaccines.
The “monumental” decision, as described by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief, raised hopes for developing nations struggling with vaccine supply but was met with anger from the pharmaceutical industry.
If approved, the waiver would theoretically allow drugmakers around the world to produce coronavirus jabs without the risk of being sued for breaking IP rules. Lengthy negotiations are expected before a consensus can be reached at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
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As the coronavirus continues its creep into communities around the world, while raging through others in India and Brazil, the global push to head off the virus very clearly depends on our collective ability to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. In the U.S., the benefits of mass and rapid vaccination are plain to see, but much of the rest of the world is still mired in lockdowns and grappling with swamped emergency rooms. To boost the rate of global vaccination there is growing momentum behind the idea of temporarily waiving patent rights for the drugmakers that developed the vaccines, a call that the Biden administration came out in support of Wednesday. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the U.S. would move forward with international negotiations on how such a waiver might look and work.
The Biden administration, siding with some world leaders over the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, came out in favor of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.
WASHINGTON - The Biden administration on Wednesday threw its support behind a proposal to waive intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines, with liberals framing it as a necessary bid to speed the shots to billions of people in the developing world, while the drug industry warned of devastating effects to vaccine production.