<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"><br></div>From: <b class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Jomo</b> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:jomoks@yahoo.com">jomoks@yahoo.com</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">Date: Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 1:10 AM<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Intellectual property monopolies block vaccine access </span></b></div><div><div id="m_-6136829191908657888ydpa6bd703byiv3717245422yqtfd01186"><div><div id="m_-6136829191908657888ydpa6bd703byiv3717245422ydp8fe59584yahoo_quoted_8309977235"><div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a"><div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:garamond,new york,times,serif;font-size:16px"><div>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram</span></i></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt" lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.ksjomo.org/post/intellectual-property-monopolies-block-vaccine-access" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ksjomo.org/post/intellectual-property-monopolies-block-vaccine-access</a></span></p><div><br clear="none"></div><div><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR: Just before the World Health
Assembly (WHA), an 18 May </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2020/may/20200514_covid19-vaccine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">open letter</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> by world leaders and
experts urged governments to ensure that all COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and
tests are patent-free, fairly distributed and available to all, free of charge.</span><br clear="none"></div><p></p>



<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Pious promises</span></b></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/03/european-leaders-join-forces-to-combat-covid-19" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Leaders</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> of Italy, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.who.int/about/governance/world-health-assembly/seventy-third-world-health-assembly/speeches-and-news-releases" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">France</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">, Germany, Norway and the
European Commission called for the vaccine to be “produced by the world, for
the whole world” as a “global public good of the 21st century”, while China’s President
Xi </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/18/c_139067018.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">promised</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> a vaccine developed by
China would be a “global public good”. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">The United Nations Secretary-General
also </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2020-05-18/remarks-the-world-health-assembly" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">insisted</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> on access to all when
available. The WHA </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA73/A73_CONF1Rev1-en.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">unanimously agreed</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> that vaccines,
treatments and tests are global public goods, but was </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/us-scapegoating-overshadows-call-peoples-vaccine-world-health-assembly-oxfam" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">vague</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> on the implications. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"><span>          </span>As COVID
vaccines have become available, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55229894" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">nearly
70 poor countries are left out</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">.
Many more people will be infected and may die without vaccinations, warns the </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/campaigners-warn-9-out-10-people-poor-countries-are-set-miss-out-covid-19-vaccine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">People’s Vaccine Alliance</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">,
advocating equitable and low-cost access.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">As the rich and powerful secure
access, poor countries will </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2020/december/20201209_we-must-have-a-peoples-vaccine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">leave out most people</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">
as only </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://fortune.com/2020/12/08/only-10-of-people-in-poor-countries-will-get-a-coronavirus-vaccine-next-year/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">one in ten</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> can be vaccinated in
2021, making a mockery of the Sustainable Development Goals’ over-arching principle
of ‘leaving no one behind’. </span></p>



<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Waiving WTO rules </span></b></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">The authors of “</span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/opinion/covid-vaccines-patents.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Want Vaccines Fast? Suspend Intellectual Property Rights</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> (IPR) argue that IPR are the main stumbling block. Meanwhile, South
Africa and India have </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://msfaccess.org/landmark-move-india-and-south-africa-propose-no-patents-covid-19-medicines-tools-during-pandemic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">proposed</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> that the World Trade
Organization (WTO) temporarily waive its Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) rules limiting access to COVID-19 medicines, tools,
equipment and vaccines. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">The proposal – </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://twitter.com/drtedros/status/1317449471727407104?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">welcomed</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> by the WHO
Director-General and </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.twn.my/title2/health.info/2020/hi201007.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">supported</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> by nearly 100
governments and many civil society organisations around the world – goes beyond
the </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.who.int/medicines/areas/policy/doha_declaration/en/#:~:text=The%20Doha%20Declaration%20refers%20to,freedom%20to%20establish%20the%20regime" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Doha Declaration</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">’s limited
flexibilities for national emergencies and circumstances of extreme urgency.<b></b></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">But Brazil, one of the worst hit
countries, opposes the proposal, together with the US, the EU, the UK, Switzerland,
Norway, Canada, Australia and Japan, insisting the Doha Declaration is sufficient.
</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">The empire fights back</span></b></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">The US insists that IP protection is best to ensure “swift
delivery” while the EU claims there is “no indication that IPR issues have been
a genuine barrier … to COVID-19-related medicines and technologies” as the UK dismisses
the proposal as “an extreme measure to address an unproven problem”.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"><span>          </span>The
Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations Director-General claims
it “would jeopardize future medical innovation, making us more vulnerable to
other diseases”, while <i>The Wall Street Journal</i> denounced it as “</span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-global-covid-vaccine-heist-11605829343" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">A Global Covid Vaccine Heist</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">”,
warning “their effort would harm everyone, including the poor”.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"><span>          </span></span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Citing AstraZeneca’s agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII)
and Brazilian companies, other opponents assert that voluntary mechanisms
should suffice, insisting the public-private </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/covax-explained" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">COVAX</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> initiative ensures fair and equitable access. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">But the </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/02/908711419/u-s-wont-join-who-led-coronavirus-vaccine-effort-white-house-says" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">US has refused to join</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> COVAX,</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-GB"> part</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> of the WHO-blessed, donor-funded Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (</span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/access-to-covid-19-tools-(act)-accelerator" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">ACT-A</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">), ostensibly committed
to “equitable global access to innovative tools for COVID-19 for all”. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Intellectual property fraud</span></b></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">The Doha Declaration only covers patents, ignoring
proprietary technology to safely manufacture vaccines. Meanwhile, there is </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.ft.com/content/a832d5d7-4a7f-42cc-850d-8757f19c3b6b" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">not enough interest, let alone capacity</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> among leading pharmaceutical companies to produce enough vaccines,
safely and affordably, for everyone before 2024. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"><span>          </span>Despite
the Doha Declaration, developing countries </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-drug-and-vaccine-patents-are-putting-profit-before-people-149270" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">are still under great pressure</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">
from the EU and the US. The rules allowing ‘compulsory licensing’ are very restrictive,
with countries required to separately negotiate contracts with companies for
specific amounts, periods and purposes, deterring and thus often bypassing those
with limited financial and legal capacities.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"><span>          </span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32581-2/fulltext" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">South Africa cited the examples</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">
of Regeneron and Eli Lilly, which have already committed most of their COVID-19
antibody cocktail drugs to the US. In India, Pfizer has legally blocked
alternative pneumococcal vaccines from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). In South
Korea, Pfizer has forced SK Bioscience to stop producing its pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine (PCV). </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">To be sure, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.cigionline.org/articles/are-patents-really-necessary" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">patents are not necessary for innovation</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">, with the <i>Harvard Business Review</i> showing IPR law actually </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://hbr.org/2014/07/the-evidence-is-in-patent-trolls-do-hurt-innovation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">stifling it</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">. Meanwhile, <i>The
Economist</i> has condemned </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/08/08/time-to-fix-patents" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">patent trolling</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">, which has reduced
venture capital investment in start-ups and R&D spending, especially by small
firms.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Public subsidies</span></b></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Like most other life-saving drugs and vaccines,
COVID-19 vaccines and treatment technologies </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/for-billion-dollar-covid-vaccines-basic-government-funded-science-laid-the-groundwork/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">owe much to public investment</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">.
Even the Trump administration provided US$10.5 billion to vaccine development
companies.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Moderna’s vaccine emerged from a
partnership with the National Institute of Health (NIH). Research at the NIH,
Defence Department and federally funded university laboratories have been crucial
for rapid US vaccine development.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Pfizer has received a </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/pfizer-vaccine-s-funding-came-from-berlin-not-washington" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">US$455 million German government grant</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> and nearly US$6 billion in US and EU purchase commitments. AstraZeneca
received more than </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-and-manufacturing-boost-for-uk-vaccine-programme" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">£84 million</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> (US$111 million) from
the UK government, and more than US$2 billion from the US and EU for research
and via purchase orders.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">But although public funding for most medicine
and vaccine development is the norm, Big Pharma typically keeps the monopoly
profits they enjoy from the IPR they retain.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"><span>          </span><span> </span></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Voluntary mechanisms inadequate</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">COVAX</span><span lang="EN-MY"> </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">seeks
to procure two billion vaccine doses, to be shared “equally” between rich and
poor countries, but </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32581-2/fulltext" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">has only reserved 700,000 vaccine doses so far</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">, while the poorest countries, with 1.7 billion people, cannot afford a
single deal. Meanwhile, rich countries have secured six billion doses for
themselves. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Thus, even if and when COVAX procures
its targeted two billion vaccine doses, less than a billion will go to poor
countries. If the vaccine requires two doses, as many – including </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.one.org/international/blog/gavi-vaccine-alliance-faq/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA8dH-BRD_ARIsAC24umZPU5ZJ1viu2dFxwcH7VhPnk9ANcZBoG6IAXuDAlW1UtfOrMQUzih0aAseAEALw_wcB" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Gavi</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">, the Vaccine Alliance –
assume, this will only be enough for less than half a billion people. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Meanwhile, ACT-A’s diagnostics work
seeks to procure 500 million tests, only a small fraction of what is required. Even
if fully financed, which is not the case, this is only a partial solution at
best. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">But with the massive funding shortfall,
even these modest targets will not be reached. To date, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32581-2/fulltext" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">only US$5 billion of the US$43 billion needed</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> for poor countries in 2021 has been raised.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Profitable philanthropy</span></b></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">As of mid-October, while </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-GB">18 generic pharmaceutical
companies had signed up,</span><span lang="EN-GB"> <a shape="rect" href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-drug-and-vaccine-patents-are-putting-profit-before-people-149270" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">not a single major drug company had joined</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) to encourage industry
contributions of IP, technologies and data to scale up worldwide sharing and production
of all such needs. </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Meanwhile, a </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-drug-and-vaccine-patents-are-putting-profit-before-people-149270" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">few companies have ‘voluntarily’ given up</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> some IPR, if only temporarily. Moderna has promised to license its
COVID-19 related patents to other vaccine manufacturers, and not enforce its own
patents. <span>But their pledge is limited, allowing
it to enforce its patents </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-GB">“post pandemic”</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2020/10/21/moderna-covid19-patent-pledge/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">as defined by Moderna</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">. </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-GB">Besides profiting from licensing in the longer term, Moderna’s pledge will
enable it to grow the new mRNA market its business is based on, by </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif;color:#222222" lang="EN-GB">establishing
and </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-GB">promoting
</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif;color:#222222" lang="EN-GB">a transformational drug therapy platform, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2020/11/11/breaking-modernas-covid-19-patent-pledge/id=127224/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">yielding gains for
years to come</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif;color:#222222" lang="EN-GB">.</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-GB"> </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">AstraZeneca has announced that its vaccine,
researched at Oxford University, will be available at cost in some locations, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.ft.com/content/c474f9e1-8807-4e57-9c79-6f4af145b686" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">but only until July 2021</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">.
Meanwhile, Eli Lilly has agreed, with the Gates Foundation, to supply – without
demanding royalties from low- and middle-income countries – its (still experimental)
COVID-19 antibody treatment, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-lilly-antibody/eli-lilly-in-deal-to-supply-COVID-19-drugs-to-low-income-countries-idUSKBN26T26H" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">but</span><span lang="EN-MY"> </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">did not specify how
many doses</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Indeed, as Proudhon warned almost two
centuries ago, ‘property is theft’.</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"> </span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">Related IPS commentaries</span></b></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">“Covid-19 Cannot Be Defeated by a Divided World”, 16
July 2020. </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/07/covid-19-cannot-defeated-divided-world/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/07/covid-19-cannot-defeated-divided-world/</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">“Politics, Profits Undermine Public Interest in
Covid-19 Vaccine Race”, 26 May 2020. </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/05/politics-profits-undermine-public-interest-covid-19-vaccine-race/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/05/politics-profits-undermine-public-interest-covid-19-vaccine-race/</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">“West First Policies Expose Myths”, 31 Mar. 2020. </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/03/west-first-policies-expose-myths/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/03/west-first-policies-expose-myths/</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"></span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">“Intellectual Property Raises Costs of Living”, 11
Feb. 2020. </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a shape="rect" href="https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/02/intellectual-property-raises-costs-living/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY">https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/02/intellectual-property-raises-costs-living/</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Garamond,serif" lang="EN-MY"></span></p></div><br clear="none"></div></div>
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