Covid-19: in the wake of the American initiative, things are moving on the vaccine patent front
(illustration) Bottle of AstraZeneca serum, in Vigo, Spain, March 13, 2021. AFP - MIGUEL RIOPA
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5 mins
Is this a turning point in the fight against the pandemic?
On Wednesday evening, the United States announced that it was in favor of the lifting of patents on vaccines against Covid-19.
Brussels, Berlin and Paris followed suit in Washington on Thursday and the African Union welcomes these developments.
Concretely, this means that developing countries could produce Moderna or Pfizer without asking for authorization from the manufacturers.
But the pharmaceutical industry remains to be convinced.
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India and South Africa have been asking for it for a long time.
The United States last night gave its support to their request
.
The American position for the lifting of patents on anti-Covid vaccines constitutes "
a remarkable expression of leadership
", declared this Thursday morning the director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the continent (Africa CDC), which depends on the African Union (AU).
►
See also
: The United States is in favor of the lifting of duties on vaccines
And the reactions follow one another. Again this Thursday morning, the European Commission also said it was "
ready to discuss
" the lifting of patents for vaccines against Covid-19 in order to accelerate their production and distribution. “
The EU is ready to discuss any proposal that would tackle the crisis effectively and pragmatically. We are ready to discuss how the US proposal can achieve this goal,
”said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Germany followed suit.
Berlin is "
open
" to a "
discussion
" about the lifting of patents on anti-Covid vaccines, being considered by Washington, said on Thursday the chief of the German diplomacy, Heiko Mas, adding, "
it is a question that we must ask ourselves because it is a question of putting an end to this pandemic
”of Covid-19.
In order not to be outdone, France, through the voice of Emmanuel Macron, is also positioning itself.
The Head of State, who inaugurated a large vaccine park at Porte de Versailles this Thursday morning, said to himself "
completely in favor of there being, in fact, this opening up of intellectual property, you heard me say it a year ago.
What I said simply is that today our bottlenecks, which makes it difficult to access the vaccine, at some point will be the price and access to intellectual property, c t today is the transfer of technology and the capacity to produce ... Yes, we obviously have to make this vaccine a global public good.
But of course, the priority today is on two things: the spirit of solidarity and efficiency of all the rich countries, as Europe does and as, I hope, it will be followed by the British, Americans and others.
It is the gift of doses.
In the short term, this is what will allow us to vaccinate.
"
The very reserved pharmaceutical industry
The measure has not yet been approved by the
WTO,
whose director general calls for the development of "voluntary license" agreements for the manufacture of vaccines, as AstraZeneca has done with the Serum Institute of India in India.
►
See also
: the issue of vaccine patents divides WTO member countries
But the American announcement took the pharmaceutical industry by surprise, which is fiercely opposed to the suspension of patents, reports our correspondent in Geneva, Jérémie Lanche.
The American proposal is a simple answer but a bad answer to the crisis.
This is how the International Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry, IFPMA, reacted after the Washington announcement.
Its boss, Thomas Cueni, says lifting the patents will not increase the number of available doses. It would even be quite the opposite. “
Lifting the patent doesn't give you more doses, but gives a negative signal and will increase the problems.
''
In front.
The GAVI organization, the Vaccine Alliance, believes that the multiplication of production sites could, on the contrary, make it possible to bypass blockages in exports.
As is the case in India.
Aurélia Nguyen is the head of the vaccine sharing program at GAVI: “
There is really an awareness, which is happening, of the needs of the most affected countries.
And to respond to this global health crisis, we really have to play on all possible measures that will remove vaccine supply constraints
”.
The WTO is due to meet again next month on this dossier.
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