The following from Lorenzo Montanari, Executive Director of IP Progress partner Property Rights Alliance originally appeared in Forbes.
In an abrupt and unprecedented move, the Biden administration plans to strip intellectual property rights from American vaccine manufacturers. The administration completely reframed the debate on the pro IP waiver, originally petitioned last fall, by South Africa and India to the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council.
The leading voice behind the Biden surrender on IP protection was U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who said, “The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.” However, the intellectual property rights of innovators are not a barrier to the rapid acceleration of COVID-19 production the world needs...
Read the full op-ed here.
“The vaccine waiver is a distraction that penalizes the vibrant biotechnology sectors instead of addressing the root of the problem: manufacturing bottlenecks.”
- Lorenzo Montanari, Executive Director, Property Rights Alliance
