It’s not clear whether the TRIPS agreement is what’s getting in the way of vaccine supply, and waiving intellectual property rights may stifle future innovation.
Pfizer and Moderna are expected to make billions in revenue this year. It’s time all vaccine producers share their IP, data and know-how with the rest of the world.
Hospital staff in Lagos, Nigeria, administer the AstraZeneca vaccine.
AP Photo/Sunday Alamba
Too many patents and too little information about them makes it hard for the system to weed out patents that unfairly block inventors.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, speaks with scientist Krishnaraj Tiwari at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Royalmount Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre facility in Montreal, Aug 31, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
To continue the fast-paced collaborative research and innovation we have seen during the pandemic, here are five ways universities can support health research that responds to societal needs.
A medic administers a COVID-19 vaccine in Mumbai. India and South Africa have led efforts to get a waiver on intellectual property rights.
Pratik Chorge/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
The story of invention in America typically features larger-than-life caricatures of white men like Thomas Edison while largely ignoring the contributions of women and people of color.
Jessica C Lai, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington et Jesse Pirini, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Innovation means creating and capturing value from new things. And it’s better for the Kiwi economy if investment in that innovation grows local industries and creates jobs.
The TRIPS waiver enables WTO member states to manufacture and distribute COVID-19 drugs and medical supplies that would normally be protected by patents.
(Pixabay)
Ronald Labonte, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa et Mira Johri, Université de Montréal
The TRIPS waiver makes COVID-19 treatments more accessible globally by enabling manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 drugs and medical supplies that would normally be protected by patents.
A shipping container passes the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco bound for Oakland, Calif.
AP Images/Eric Risberg
China represents one of the biggest consumer markets in the world. Can that potential profit offset the problems of investing for multinational corporations? Apparently, yes.
Drug companies normally use patents to protect new treatments.
Back row (From L-R): Banky W, Ted Sarandos (Netflix Chief Content Officer), Kate Henshaw, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Felipe Tewes (Netflix Italian & African Originals Director), Omoni Oboli, Ben Amadasun (Netflix Africa Licensing Director) and Akin Omotoso
Front Row (L-R) Mo Abudu, Adesua Etomi, Dorothy Ghettuba (Netflix African Originals lead) , Kunle Afolayan, Kemi Adetiba and Ramsey Noah.
Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation Law; Director Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Managament (CIPPM), Bournemouth University, Bournemouth University