Biden Administration Goes Populist By Backing Intellectual Rights Waiver On COVID Vaccines

While the decision of the US President Joe Biden administration to support temporarily waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines may strike someone as a bold one, the proposal is actually not novel and also somewhat demagogic, experts have told Sputnik

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th May, 2021) While the decision of the US President Joe Biden administration to support temporarily waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines may strike someone as a bold one, the proposal is actually not novel and also somewhat demagogic, experts have told Sputnik.

The debate over the initiative has been going on since October, when South Africa and India proposed to the World Trade Organization to waive intellectual property rights on vaccines and other medical technologies necessary in the fight against the pandemic.

Earlier in the week, the Biden administration threw its support behind the initiative, citing the extraordinary circumstances that necessitate appropriate responses.

The move however had a mixed reception among global players. While some, like French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin, supported the waiver, the German government was less keen on the idea.

Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the US for making that call and urged others to follow that example but did note that the waiver should be accompanied by a transfer of technology.

Some, like Jean Ruelle, a virologist at the Experimental Research Institute of the UCL Clinics in Belgium, have been quick to describe the US gesture as an attempt at populist rhetoric that may luck sufficient nuance.

"The announcement made by the Biden administration in the US that they want to waive patents on the COVID-19 vaccines, to accelerate world vaccination is a bit of a communication stunt. It is a simplistic approach and the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was right to correct that the temporary suspension of patents for the vaccines was no panacea,'" Ruelle told Sputnik.

Prof. Paul Belleflamme, an intellectual property specialist at the school of Management of UCLouvain university, is of a similar mind, describing the announcement as "a little demagogic," contrasting it with a more circumspect approach adopted by Germany.

"The issue of drug companies abandoning patents or not is at the centre of the debate today in the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is not new. It was also called for during the AIDS epidemic and for other diseases," Belleflamme told Sputnik.

Nevertheless, the patent expert allowed for a possible boost to vaccination drives in developing countries.

"This abandonment of patents, which is promoted now, could indeed boost vaccination campaigns by allowing potential producers in less industrialized countries to launch vaccine production units. One thinks of India and South Africa which are asking for it at the WTO level, but of many other countries as well. Yes, this could speed up the fight against the pandemic by increasing the production of vaccines in the world," Belleflamme stated.

Both he and Ruelle specified that a simple waiver of intellectual rights is not enough, echoing Tedros' comments about technology transfer.

"The transfer of the production technologies, including subcontracting for the raw materials is complicated and would take months, whether the patent is given to the new production unit, or is the object of a traditional license to produce, including strict quality control," the virologist explained.

SIDE EFFECTS FOR PHARMECEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Another elephant in the room is that the vaccine developers may not just accept the decision to waiver their intellectual rights that robs them of their profits, especially as developing a new vaccine is not a cheap endeavor all by itself.

"It will not be easy to reach an agreement with the producers: the pharmaceutical industry federations do not agree and insist on the danger of thus drying up the sources of innovation in the field of vaccines, by destroying the profitability of products placed on the market," Belleflamme predicted.

Ruelle did welcome a debate on intellectual property but also warned about possible downsides for researchers.

"Waiving patents would be a serious breach of the system of intellectual property protection, which is essential for the security of laboratories when they engage in expensive research that could very well fail," the expert cautioned.

Belleflamme went on to raise the issue of public and private research, saying that while a state can fund research for public benefit, a private enterprise has an edge when it comes to taking a shot in the dark.

"Innovation is, in essence, surprising and atypical. Private companies are ideally suited to developing new products from new processes," the professor added.

The expert also brought attention to the fact that it is possible to organize technology transfer under free market conditions.

"Let us not forget that patents already make it possible to negotiate transfers of technology, by granting licenses to produce a vaccine. Licenses are already granted for the production of Covid vaccines. It is a competitive market: private firms are sellers and states are buyers; this is the framework for negotiations. Forcing the hand of industrialists would have long-term consequences and will not solve anything," Belleflamme stated.