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There's a lot of misinformation coming out about vaccine patents and if they should exist.
As multiple countries are debating whether or not to lift the intellectual property rights on covid-19 vaccines here's a
of resources on the answer...
As multiple countries are debating whether or not to lift the intellectual property rights on covid-19 vaccines here's a
of resources on the answer...
Pfizer and Moderna rely on mRNA technology which is fragile and complex to produce. Vaccine manufacturing happens under strict GMP regulations and inspections (and requires FDA monitoring and regulations).
If the vaccine was open source more and more companies/governments could have prepared themselves to meet the minimal requirements for production rather than leave Pfizer or Moderna to choose their manufacturing partnerships. This is where intellectual property comes in.
Part of the reason not many other facilities stand ready to manufacture vaccines immediately is because no other facilities are given the information to be able to prepare supplies, training of personnel, facility regulatory compliance ability/ to prepare https://khn.org/news/article/can-pfizer-and-moderna-end-the-pandemic-by-sharing-their-vaccine-designs-its-not-that-simple/
Pfizer made the vaccine publicly available already and Moderna's was made available by reverse engineering by external scientists. But simply knowing the mRNA sequence does not allow people to manufacture it. (It's not the whole recipe it's just the ingredients)
A big component that is not publicly available that is essential to manufacturing is how the mRNA is combined with the lipids + other components: https://bit.ly/3etuOqj
Oxford University was perfectly motivated to perform vaccine research while planning on making their vaccine open license (although later under influence of Bill and Melinda Gates they sold all rights to what became AstraZeneca).
Oxford houses one of the largest academic centers in the world for nonprofit vaccine research and has its own manufacturing facility. This is a perfect example of an entity not needing patents or protection of IP to motivate them to create a vaccine. https://khn.org/news/rather-than-give-away-its-covid-vaccine-oxford-makes-a-deal-with-drugmaker/
Intellectual property initially existed as a way to have companies compete with each other and be motivated to innovate. Pharmaceutical companies have used this opportunity to manipulate policy and legality in order to solidify their monopolies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreening
This is one of the reasons drugs prices are so high in the United States:
http://www.i-mak.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/I-MAK-Overpatented-Overpriced-Report.pdf
http://www.i-mak.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/I-MAK-Overpatented-Overpriced-Report.pdf
While some the ingredients to create mRNA are sparse and the techniques are difficult there are equipped facilities globally that are prepare to take it on (resulting in hundreds of millions of vaccines if patents are lifted): https://twitter.com/theintercept/status/1387723819721314305
A company in Canada for example is prepared to make 20 million doses of Johnson & Johnson but requires both trade secrets and patents to do so for example:
https://khn.org/news/article/covid-vaccines-patent-waiver-biolyse-canadian-drugmaker-wants-to-make-johnson-johnson-vaccines-for-poor-countries/
https://khn.org/news/article/covid-vaccines-patent-waiver-biolyse-canadian-drugmaker-wants-to-make-johnson-johnson-vaccines-for-poor-countries/
In order to beat covid-19 the entire planet has to be vaccinated. While the shortage of key ingredients is a factor - if the patents had been waived and methods shared then numerous plants / countries would have already been producing supplemental vaccines by this point
This has to be done IN ADDITION to large manufacturers like Pfizer & Moderna continuing to pump out production and distribute globally. It's the best way to reach global vaccination and achieve herd immunity (or more realistically tracing and containment) https://www.businessinsider.com/vaccine-patents-ips-monopoly-vaccination-process-us-biden-africa-2021-2
There is also a reason companies like Pfizer spend almost double on marketing than they do R&D: https://www.pharmacychecker.com/askpc/pharma-marketing-research-development/#!
Pharmaceutical ads are prohibited on television in a lot of countries like Canada for the simple reason that taking medication is not something you should be coerced into doing through advertising. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-nation-of-pill-takers/
This is in no way a critique of people using life saving medication like anti-depressants. It's identifying the faults of a profit motivated industry that has also resulted in national tragedies like the opioid crisis: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/27/americans-consume-almost-all-of-the-global-opioid-supply.html
It results in the US spending more on pharmaceutical drugs than any other country in the world and consuming more pharmaceutical drugs than any country in the world.
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2017/oct/paying-prescription-drugs-around-world-why-us-outlier
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2017/oct/paying-prescription-drugs-around-world-why-us-outlier
Pharmaceutical companies also spend the most money on lobbying efforts resulting in the distortion of information on the subject as well as the monopolistic power of the industry: https://www.statista.com/statistics/257364/top-lobbying-industries-in-the-us/
Doctors Without Borders has done an excellent job of laying out everything that needs to be done here and how you can help:
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/covid-19-vaccines-equitable-global-access-urgently-needed https://reliefweb.int/report/world/pfizer-and-moderna-vaccines-can-only-be-scaled-globally-if-many-more-suppliers-can
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/covid-19-vaccines-equitable-global-access-urgently-needed https://reliefweb.int/report/world/pfizer-and-moderna-vaccines-can-only-be-scaled-globally-if-many-more-suppliers-can
Finally I'd like to thank @DocMidnight8 a frontline covid doctor for co-authoring this with us.
He works tirelessly to fundraise life saving resources like PPE and ventilators (in his spare time) for the battle against the pandemic so you should send a follow his way
He works tirelessly to fundraise life saving resources like PPE and ventilators (in his spare time) for the battle against the pandemic so you should send a follow his way
