WHO Plans to Waive Intellectual Property Rights for Covid Vaccines
The global health agency is also advocating bilateral technology transfers, so that companies that own vaccine patents can license them to another company.
As COVAX has delivered more than 20 million vaccine doses to 20 countries, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), says there is a need to increase the speed and volume of production.
“We currently face several barriers to increasing the speed and volume of production, from export bans to shortages of raw materials including glass, plastic and stoppers,” he said.
The WHO is also considering the option to waive intellectual property rights for Covid vaccines. “Many countries with vaccine manufacturing capacity can start producing their own vaccines by waiving intellectual property rights, as provided for in the TRIPS agreement,” said Tedros, referring to the 1994 accord adopted by all 194 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The global health agency is also advocating bilateral technology transfers, so that companies that own vaccine patents can license them to another company.
Coordinated technology transfer is another option, whereby universities and manufacturers would license their vaccines to other companies through a global mechanism coordinated by WHO. This would also facilitate the training of staff at the receiving companies, and coordinate investments in infrastructure.
Meanwhile, independent experts investigating the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19 are expected to issue their final report later this month.
The findings from the mission to Wuhan – the Chinese city where the outbreak first began more than a year ago – together with a summary report, will be issued during the week of 14 March, said Dr. Peter Ben Embarek, the team leader.
The experts travelled in January to Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged at the end of 2019.
