COVID-19, syringe needle

The first World Trade Organization meeting to discuss a draft agreement to temporarily waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines went “very well”, its chair said on May 6.

The head of the World Trade Organization told Reuters on April 14 that negotiations on an intellectual property deal for COVID-19 vaccines were ongoing between the four parties, saying they were seeking to agree on the proposal’s final terms.

The United States, European Union, India and South Africa reached a consensus on key elements of a long-sought intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, according to a proposed text reviewed by Reuters.

The head of the World Trade Organization said there was a pathway for a global deal to get more Covid-19 vaccines to developing countries, despite a split over whether drugs firms should be stripped of their intellectual property rights.

A deal on an intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization (WTO) was no closer to acceptance on May 31 despite Washington’s backing, due to expected scepticism about a new draft, sources close to the talks told Reuters.

The European Union on May 6 backed a U.S. proposal to discuss waiving patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines, but drugmakers and some other governments opposed the idea, saying it would not solve global inoculation shortages.

Drugmakers on May 6 said U.S. President Joe Biden’s support for waiving patents of Covid-19 vaccines could disrupt a fragile supply chain and that rich countries should instead share more generously with the developing world.

President Joe Biden on May 5 threw his support behind waiving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, bowing to mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but angering pharmaceutical companies. Biden voiced his support for a waiver – a sharp reversal of the previous U.S. position – in remarks to reporters, followed swiftly by a statement from his top trade negotiator, Katherine Tai, who backed negotiations at the World Trade Organization.

Manufacturing capacity and ingredients shortages are the main bottlenecks to expanding Covid-19 vaccine production, several global drug groups said on March 9, not patents that some critics are demanding be removed.

World Health Organization

Countries seeking their own COVID-19 vaccine doses are making deals with drug companies that threaten the supply for the global COVAX program for poor and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization said on Feb. 26.