Biden is backing ‘patentfree jab’
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has thrown its weight behind a plan to temporarily waive pharmaceutical companies’ intellectual property rights for COVID vaccines in an effort to boost supply to developing countries.
President Joe Biden endorsed calls for a temporary suspension of standard rules amid growing demands for such a move. His chief trade negotiator argued that the nature of the pandemic demanded extraordinary action.
Shares in leading manufacturers of coronavirus treatments fell following the news, with US biotech group Moderna plunging 6 per cent.
Katherine Tai, the US trade representative, said the plan would enable poor nations to override patent rights of certain medical products.
The measure, first proposed by South Africa and India at the World Trade Organisation late last year, has been backed by several dozen countries.
For months it failed to win the backing of Western economies including the US, the EU, Switzerland and the UK, which are home to many leading drugmakers, but Wednesday’s statement from Ms Tai — who had alarmed the pharmaceutical sector by reviewing the US’s opposition to the plan under Donald Trump — is a significant boost for those campaigning for it.
“The extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” she said. “The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections but, in the service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.”
The US would “actively participate” in talks to secure the waiver, she added, cautioning that it “will take time”.
Ten meetings in seven months have failed to find a breakthrough, and such decisions at the WTO require a consensus of its 164 members.
Mr Biden, who signalled his support for a waiver when campaigning for the presidency last year, said he endorsed the move. Asked whether he backed the suspension, he told reporters: “Yes, I’m going to talk about that later today, yes.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organisation, hailed his comments as a “monumental moment.