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The corona vaccine is one of the most important advances of the last year. And it means important business for the companies involved. Pfizer expects the corona vaccine to generate sales of CHF 13.5 billion.
Now a dispute has broken out over your patent. India and South Africa want to temporarily revoke patents to produce enough vaccine worldwide. However, the rich countries resist.
Conversations are fruitless
Patents for corona vaccines and other funds will not be softened for now. Informal online discussions at the responsible WTO Council on Thursday were inconclusive, as trade diplomats in Geneva report.
Rich countries argue that patent protection is not the reason so few vaccines are produced. Rather, there are not enough production companies.
The pharmaceutical industry resists
The pharmaceutical industry also wants to avoid tampering with patent protection. It is said that investments in drug research are only worth it if companies can make money from them if they are successful.
At the WTO Council, a representative from South Africa accused the industrialized countries of being responsible for the vaccine shortage. Pharmaceutical companies have only signed license agreements with a few producers. But there are other companies in Cuba, Thailand, Senegal and Indonesia that could produce vaccines. Other WTO members criticized the EU and other industrialized countries for not relaxing patent protection. At the same time, it is they who have practically secured all the previous production.
EU and USA do not participate
EU representatives argued that production could be expanded through capacity expansion and licensing. US representatives, also against a weakening of patent protection, noted that the US had joined the global Covax initiative, which organizes vaccines for all countries in the world. (SDA / lui)
