The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) agreement to a partial patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines “sends a dangerous signal” to the pharmaceutical industry and all other innovative sectors, according to EFPIA, which expressed deep disappointment in the decision.
Twenty months after India and South Africa proposed an agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on COVID-19 vaccine patents, WTO has finalized the terms of a deal that will allow governments to issue compulsory licenses to domestic manufacturers while compensating patent holders. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala hailed the deal as a compromise that “will contribute to ongoing efforts to deconcentrate and diversify vaccine manufacturing capacity, so that a crisis in one region does not leave others cut off.”
Similarly, the European Council approved the ministerial declaration on the WTO response to the COVID-19 pandemic and preparedness for future pandemics. Others criticized the deal, both for going too far and for not going far enough…
