Are intellectual property rights a barrier for immunization and vaccination across the world?
- HPS SRCC
- Oct 21, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 27, 2022
The year 2020 witnessed the beginning of one of the most devastating events in human history as the unprecedented pandemic brought the global economy to a standstill. The imposition of lockdown resulted in exorbitant daily casualties and the only hope to lessen the effects of the contagious virus was to develop a vaccine. While the first vaccine hit the market in late 2020 and many more have been approved since then, inequality in vaccine distribution has hampered the vaccination campaign, with developing and third world countries hitting the hardest. Despite companies enormous manufacturing capabilities, many governments cannot source vaccines for their citizens. One of the main obstacles has been the provisions of international agreements that protect the Intellectual Property Rights of vaccine manufacturers. While the formula to fight the virus was invented, not everyone has access to it given the commercialization of the human intellect. Developed countries argue that international agreements between members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) take into account these adverse scenarios wherein human life should be prioritized over profit-making. However, the sufferings of countries without the manufacturing capacity to defeat the virus prove otherwise.
IPR- Promise or Peril?
Intellectual Property Rights on the COVID 19 vaccine pose a tremendous threat to global access and human life. The disparity in availability of COVID-19 vaccines among high and low-income nations has become difficult to overlook. According to UNICEF, 86% of all doses administered globally as of 30th March 2021, were concentrated more in high and upper-middle nations. The accumulation of vaccines by wealthy nations keeping LDC(least developed countries) left behind as the pandemic devastated has fueled the issue of vaccine patents. India and South Africa proposed the vaccine waiver followed by support from the United States to ensure vaccine equity. The world’s developed nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, Canada, had opposed the proposal because the flexibilities provided by the TRIPS Agreement were sufficient to tackle the havoc caused by the pandemic.
The supporters of the vaccine waiver pointed out that many pharmaceutical companies have received government funding for the development of the COVID19 vaccine and hence public is entitled to more opportunities, even if it means reduced profits. The pharma industry has strongly opposed this demand as it would eliminate the impetus to innovate and improve.
For the opponents, the exemption is a deviation. While it removes incentives for innovation, it will not help improve vaccine distribution globally. Pharmaceutical companies and the government believe that Intellectual Property Rights and their permissive interests have fueled the development of innovative technologies such as COVID19 vaccines. They also say low production capacity rather than patents is the biggest obstacle to global vaccination efforts. Even if patents were dropped, critics argue that without the inventor's technical expertise or access to critical ingredients that are already scarce, many countries would not be able to manufacture vaccines. Further, pharmaceutical organization’s restrictive antibody-making infrastructure is unjustifiable, as several COVID19 vaccinations have been openly funded. Importantly, major manufacturers of COVID19 vaccines, as well as several countries with vaccine abundance, have made arrangements to contribute testing to the global COVAX collaboration. Despite these efforts, widespread vaccine storage, trade restrictions and limited production continue to hinder the goal of supplying the world's most impoverished countries with more than two billion servings by the end of the year. Even though there are various flexibilities including compulsory licensing, it is inadequate and insufficient. Many pharmaceutical companies are against passing compulsory licensing as it will affect their profitability. Changing flexibility, implementing policy reforms to enable technology transfer and providing expertise to underdeveloped countries are necessary for better access and medical equity.
Waiver v/s Sharer.
The surging pandemic is a global public health problem. Patent holders are not in a position to produce enough vaccines to meet the growing demand. Unless a solution to ensure technology transfer has been sought out, a simple patent waiver would never turn out as a problem. The TRIPS Agreement recognizes the importance of technology transfer through its objective and Article 66 (2), which establishes that "developed member countries shall provide incentives to companies and institutions in their territories to promote and encourage technology transfer to the least developed member countries ". However, there is no clear solution to the proposed exception, and pharmaceutical companies strongly oppose this technology transfer. Unless knowledge transfer does not take place, low and middle-income countries will find it difficult to produce the COVID 19 vaccine, regardless of how patent barriers are removed in the TRIPS exemption.
A Final Word
Intellectual Property Rights are of immense importance in today's knowledge-based economy. Nations must work with each other to extend manufacturing capabilities and strengthen international vaccines as well. Therefore, it is important to ensure that global public health is in line with the incentive-based production structure. This means that a stringent patent waiver could have enormous potential to enhance access to vaccines in the pandemic. There are indeed other bottlenecks in global production and distribution, such as lack of technology, inefficiencies in the supply chain, trade barriers and shortage of raw materials which need to be addressed. However, given the urgency of the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, a transfer of intellectual property can serve as an immediate short-term method to expand the global vaccine production capacity. Both Indian manufacturers and the government must address the concerns of patent holders to ensure that India’s vaccination drive is not compromised. The need of the hour is to ensure a shared commitment to human health not only in the short run but also in the long run.
REFERENCES:
- Sreelakshmi S Nair
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