Patent Rights On Covid-19 Jabs

Patent Rights On Covid-19 Jabs

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Intellectual Property Rights

Context: According to a proposal by the EU, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) held by international pharmaceutical companies on Covid-19 vaccines may be relaxed for up to five years.

Background: A two-year-old dispute at the WTO involve India, the US, South Africa and the EU. India and South Africa’s proposal suggested a waiver for all WTO members on the implementation of certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in relation to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19.

Concept:

• EU’s waiver proposal will be applicable only to jabs and not to drugs and diagnostic devices.
• This waiver will allow Pharma companies in developing countries not only to make but also further down export vaccines without explicit permission from the patent holders.
• A clause in the current text said that these “waivers” would apply to developing countries that have not exported more than 10% of the Covid-19 vaccines in 2021.
• As many developing countries including India, already have a system of Compulsory licensing, it is unclear to what extent this proposal will benefit Indian manufacturers who have entered into licensing arrangements with global pharma companies and also developed indigenous vaccines.

To know about WTO and TRIPS, refer: https://optimizeias.com/wto-trips-2/

To know about compulsory licensing, refer: https://optimizeias.com/compulsory-licensing/