Calls For COVID Patent Waivers Persist As Pooling Initiatives Plough Ahead

Patents On COVID-19 Therapeutics Have Been Accused Of Impeding International Access

21 Feb 2022

The formulas for various COVID-19 vaccines remain shrouded in intellectual property protections – one of many factors preventing them from being manufactured in developing nations. Those in favor of upholding IP say that scrapping patents could stifle future innovation, but their opponents believe preserving COVID-19 related IP rights is limiting access to lifesaving medical tools.

In October 2020, the Indian and South African governments called upon the World Trade Organization to suspend certain obligations of the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, to allow open access to the patents on COVID-19 products related to prevention, treatment and containment of the disease for the duration of the pandemic. This, they argued, would help to facilitate access to vaccines and therapeutics for the global population – not just for wealthy countries which could afford to import the products, or those with the ability to manufacture them locally. The rapid upscale of local production, they said, would be critical to ensure wider access to affordable and effective medicines.

Heading into 2022, the waiver proposal has yet to come to fruition, even after the submission of a revised draft...