Pharmaceutical companies are not happy with the Biden Administration’s proposal of Waiving Patent for the Kovid vaccine.
In the US, the decision of the Biden Administraion to grant a patent exemption for the corona vaccine is not acceptable to the pharmaceutical companies. India and South Africa have proposed that due to the dangerous situation of Kovid-19 in developing countries, there is a great need for vaccine in these countries. Therefore, the US should support them in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and help them reach the vaccine. Patents are also supported
Announcing on behalf of the Biden administration, US Trade Representative Catherine Tyne said that this was a ‘need to take unusual steps’ in the event of a global disaster. At the same time, a change in the international intellectual property protection rules of the WTO will require consensus, which will take a lot of time. Ty also said that America is a strong supporter of intellectual property protection.
The arguments
of the drug companies are not agreed in this case, but they are also underlining its loss. According to a New York Times report , Stephen J. Youbal, chief executive and president of Pharmaceuticals Research and Manufacturers of America, says this will harm efforts to fight the epidemic. This decision will create confusion in public and private partners. And this great apprehension too
Yubal says that this will weaken the supply chains already working under a lot of pressure. Apart from this, it will also encourage the production of fake vaccines. Youbal also said that a dangerous effect of this would also be that American discoveries would reach countries that want to damage the biomedical discoveries of America.
Who will then make the vaccine? The
pharmaceutical industry argues that the exemption in patent protection will greatly harm risk and innovation, Brent Saunders, the former chief executive of Allergen, has questioned in his tweet as to who would make the vaccine. On the other hand, global health activists demanding this exemption have praised the Biden administration’s decision. Preeti Christhel, executive director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge, says that the bison has demonstrated that they are not only in the US but the world Is the leader of.
The pharmaceutical industry says that the patent exemption will not accelerate vaccine production. He says that there are many obstacles in this, ranging from the supply of raw materials to the distribution. Pfizer says that the company needs 280 items from 86 suppliers from 19 countries for the vaccine. In addition, special staff and equipment are used separately.
How helpful will the step be?
Dr. Michel McMary, president of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, says that it would be like giving a recipe book to countries without the necessary material. This will not help the people waiting for the vaccine. The statements backed by the Biden administration have fallen in the market share of companies such as BioTech Moderna and Novavax.
Modarna had announced in October last year that she would not insist on applying patents to vaccine makers to fight the epidemic. But critics of the Biden administration’s decision also say that the move will discourage pharmaceutical companies.
