To the Editor:
(Op-Ed, nytimes.com, Dec. 7):
Of all of the ways to improve access to critical medication or vaccines, elimination of intellectual property rights is one of the worst. Our intellectual property system is designed to reward research and development innovation.
Tampering with that sends a chilling signal about the rewards of corporate funding of the development and manufacture of new drugs, and tears down a system that has allowed the U.S. government to realize an enormous return on its investment into biomedical research.
The government has many other options to achieve the important public policy goal of providing broad access to vaccines. It can encourage and reward out-licensing and technology transfer, negotiate preferential pricing or simply provide volume purchasing guarantees options that would not have the unfortunate effect of discouraging pharmaceutical innovation. We need effective vaccines not just for this emergency, but for the next one as well.