Biden ‘Seriously’ Plans to Release Coronavirus Vaccine Patents

At the end of your first 100 days as President of the United States, Joe Biden is “seriously” studying the possibility of temporarily publishing intellectual property patents on Covid-19 vaccines.

“The White House considers options to maximize global production and supply vaccines at the lowest cost, including support for intellectual property rights exemption proposalbut no decision has been taken, ”said press secretary Jen Psaki.

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“There are many different ways to do this. Right now that’s one way, but we need to assess what makes the most sense, ”the spokesperson said. the US government is evaluating whether it would be more effective to promote the manufacture of vaccines outside the United States, although he was careful to specify that “no decision has been taken on the matter”.

Although there is still no decision formal in this regard which, on the other hand, require the approval of the United States Congress, Biden gave a sign about it in the speech of his first 100 days of management.

“We will become an arsenal of vaccines for other countries, just as the United States was the arsenal of democracy during World War II.”said the president.

As if He pledged to help other nations cope with the pandemic because “there isn’t a wall high enough to keep the virus out.”

And he said, “Thank you to the American people, our progress in these 100 days against one of the worst pandemics in history is one of the greatest logistical successes that our country has never known, ”he said, citing that coronavirus deaths are down 80% since January, in a country where more than 573,000 people have died.

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Recently, Foreign Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the huge gap was “totally unacceptable” between access to vaccines in developed and developing countries. And he went on to say that “the pharmaceutical industry must make sacrifices in times of crisis”. At his press conference, Psaki lowered his voice and clarified that “Tai has not made any recommendations on the subject so far.”

Until now, The United States is one of the countries blocking negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on a proposal, led by India and South Africa, to activate a exemption from intellectual property rights of laboratories and enable developing countries to produce locally approved vaccines, to avoid supply and logistics problems which considerably delay vaccination campaigns.

The main argument against the measure is that “it could reduce vaccine safety”, and that establishing production in new locations would reduce the resources needed to promote the manufacture of each active ingredient in the countries of origin.

“Intellectual property exemptions are not a solution for vaccine production”, said categorically Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech, which produces and markets its messenger RNA-based injection in association with the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

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“We are considering ways of granting special licenses to relevant producers”, Sahin revealed. And he added that “close cooperation with selected production partners is the right approach” because “it is difficult to elaborate”.

And plant that “This will ensure that the quality of vaccines delivered to different regions of the world is constant”, to ensure that licensees can contribute to production towards the end of the year.

The vaccine BioNTech / Pfizer has been applied in Israel, the United States and Great Britain. And it is also the main vaccine of the European Union’s inoculation campaign, a region which Sahin says could achieve herd immunity by the end of the summer.