It feels odd to me to simultaneously argue that patents were unimportant and unenforced anyway so this will produce no benefit, and that the decision to suspend patents will hurt the drug companies so much that in the future they have less of an incentive to invest in drug development?
I was also confused by this, but I can imagine the following scenario:
There are 5 companies in the world with the necessary institutional knowledge to manufacture vaccines. Because of IP laws, the only way for them to manufacture a vaccine is to either license it or invent it. So by now, all of those companies have done one of either. Voiding the patents now would not make a difference.
However, if there is a new pandemic with the understanding that all vaccine patents will be voided as soon as they are filed (as an extreme case), why would Pfizer sink money into research when they know that Moderna definitely has the knowledge to manufacture mRNA vaccines and thus would copy it immediately.
Basically (bad metaphor incoming), the first mover disadvantage does not occur when the moves are only seen after everybody has moved already.
Again, it needs to be stressed: nobody is voiding international intellectual property at this time. The only thing that’s at issue is whether the WTO should grant a waiver pursuant to Article 31(b) of TRIPS. (Even the waiver doesn’t “void” or “confiscate” IP). This is probably inevitable with or without the US, since a solid majority of member states have already endorsed this. So this gesture means that the US can at least have a say in the final language, minimizing the worst case scenario. It’s arguably the best thing the US can do for pharmaceutical companies. Having the pharmaceutical companies make a fuss about it will also help (and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the administration gave them the heads up).
I was also confused by this, but I can imagine the following scenario:
There are 5 companies in the world with the necessary institutional knowledge to manufacture vaccines. Because of IP laws, the only way for them to manufacture a vaccine is to either license it or invent it. So by now, all of those companies have done one of either. Voiding the patents now would not make a difference.
However, if there is a new pandemic with the understanding that all vaccine patents will be voided as soon as they are filed (as an extreme case), why would Pfizer sink money into research when they know that Moderna definitely has the knowledge to manufacture mRNA vaccines and thus would copy it immediately.
Basically (bad metaphor incoming), the first mover disadvantage does not occur when the moves are only seen after everybody has moved already.
Again, it needs to be stressed: nobody is voiding international intellectual property at this time. The only thing that’s at issue is whether the WTO should grant a waiver pursuant to Article 31(b) of TRIPS. (Even the waiver doesn’t “void” or “confiscate” IP). This is probably inevitable with or without the US, since a solid majority of member states have already endorsed this. So this gesture means that the US can at least have a say in the final language, minimizing the worst case scenario. It’s arguably the best thing the US can do for pharmaceutical companies. Having the pharmaceutical companies make a fuss about it will also help (and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the administration gave them the heads up).