The Ethics and Implications of the Race for the Vaccine: Covid-19 and IPR
The world is currently suffering through a global pandemic unlike anything this generation has seen before. And now, as companies all over the world have begun to develop and even distribute life-saving and essential vaccines that should help prevent the symptoms and spread of Coronavirus, the question as to whether it is morally right to patent said vaccines, and therefore risk leaving some countries to continue to struggle to control the virus while others begin to recover. Underdeveloped countries such as India and South Africa in particular have called for IP laws to be waived in order to avoid shortages and allow these countries to create their own vaccines rather than purchase them from the company creating them. One South African counsellor argued that temporarily banning the enforcement of IP laws would allow for “the transfer of technology and for more producers to come in to ensure that we have scalability in a much shorter period of time.”(The Lancet,2020)
IP laws surrounding international trade, such as this, are regulated by the World Trade Organisation’s TRIPs Agreement. Ordinarily, this agreement would allow a company or developer exclusive rights to the use, production and sale of their technology or medicine. In the past this agreement has been altered to allow countries that could not afford to buy vital HIV/AIDS medicines from pharmaceutical companies that refused to lower their prices. They attempted to find a balance between maintaining the IP rights of the companies while also allowing these countries by allowing poorer countries to import cheaper, generic version of AIDS medicines from countries like Brazil and rather than paying the high prices to the US.(Novak, 2003) This is evidence that the WTO has been willing to negotiate the enforcement of patents in past cases of medical crisis, and should therefore give poorer countries hope of similar negotiations in the case of COVID-19 vaccine sale and production.
At this stage, however, WTO have stated that they do not plan to waive IP laws with regard to vaccine patents. Representatives for the organisation have argued that there is little evidence that IP laws have or will create any barriers for poorer countries in distribution of vaccines, or that there even has been any particular difficulties in getting vaccines distributed in these places. Any further discussions of a waiver have been postponed until 2021 when significantly more vaccines should have been given worldwide and the extent of the problem can be more accurately assessed.
Some developers have already pledged to allow any Coronavirus treatments they may develop to be used freely, bypassing the need for any waivers to be made. Moderna, one of the biggest vaccine distributors currently, has made a commitment to not enforce any patent laws. “We feel a special obligation under the current circumstances to use our resources to bring this pandemic to an end as quickly as possible” (Health Policy Watch, 2020) is the statement made by the company regarding the issue. However, Moderna are presently the only company with an approved COVID-19 vaccine to have made such a pledge, and other companies with vaccines that are arguably more effective and easier to store and distribute are still regulating the use of their technology. Information professionals working in the health or medical sectors should follow the developments of this issue closely, as any decisions made in regards to patent wavers could have a significant impact in the way COVID-19 vaccinations are produced, sold and administered.
References:
· Fletcher, R.F., Sanstos, R.(2020) Moderna Makes Milestone Pledge To “Not Enforce our Patents” on COVID-19 Vaccine Technologies During Pandemic & Issue Open Licenses Afterward, Health Policy Watch [online] [Accessed 13/01/2021] https://healthpolicy-watch.news/77521-2/
· Novak, K. (2003), The WTO’s Balancing Act, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Volume 112 Issue 9, pg.1269–1273 [online] [Accessed 13/01/2021] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC228482/
· Usher, A.D.(2020), South Africa and India Push for COVID-19 Patents Ban, The Lancet, Volume 396 Issue 10265, pg.1790–1791 [online] [Accessed 13/01/2021] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32581-2/fulltext
