A series of protests have been staged in front of the European Commission and at a vaccine manufacturing plant in Belgium, calling for temporarily lifting of the intellectual property (IP) rights of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
Bangladesh has called for a temporary waiver from certain obligations under the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for the production of vaccines, medicines and other health technologies to effectively respond to the pandemic. Bangladeshmade
The World Trade Organization’s COVID-19 vaccine waiver proposal would negatively impact investment into future treatments, says Alexander Haertel of the European and Dispute Resolution Committees at the Licensing Executives Society International.
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providing fair access to vaccines and treatments.
At the same time, we want to maintain the levels of protection required for investment in innovation, so we can fight against new strains of COVID-19 and any future disease. The EU does not consider that the broad waiver proposed by a number of WTO members is the right response to the pandemic. We are arguing for a different and more targeted approach.
The EU believes that voluntary licences are the most effective instrument to facilitate expansion of production and share the necessary know-how. There are more than 280 partnerships worldwide which can make the fullest use of these licences.
The EU has set out its plan to boost deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries, which banks on open supply chains, encouraging production and compulsory licences rather than an IP waiver.