US Government Supports ‘Vaccine Intellectual Property Protections Waiver’; Pharmaceutical Companies Should Also Join

Published in Hankyoreh
(South Korea) on 6 May 2021
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Sean Kim. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
An important breakthrough was reached in the worldwide debate on increasing vaccine production and equitable distribution when the Joe Biden administration announced that intellectual property protections would be temporarily removed from COVID-19 vaccines. On May 5 (local time), U.S. President Biden and Trade Representative Katherine Tai issued a statement at the World Trade Organization in support of the temporary suspension of intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines.

At the World Trade Organization, talks led by India and South Africa on the temporary suspension of COVID-19 vaccine intellectual property protections have been taking place since last October. While 100 countries have agreed, countries that host multinational pharmaceutical companies, like the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, have strongly opposed it. However, as the "vaccine-rich" United States has reversed its stance to one of support, the discussion has reached a significant turning point.

The key is the attitudes of the enormous multinational pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 vaccines. Those companies, fearing that the precedent set by the temporary suspension of intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines will allow demand for generic versions of patented medicine to grow stronger, are strongly opposing the proposal. If these pharmaceutical companies keep monopolizing vaccines, it will become almost impossible to escape this "COVID apocalypse." The Guardian reports that, taking into account the 430 million doses (enough for about 215 million people) set to be produced by this April, large-scale vaccination will be impossible for poor countries even by 2023 at this rate. Whereas people are gradually returning to normal life in developed countries as vaccination rates increase, 400,000 people are infected with COVID-19 each day in India and are unable to even receive proper treatment.

Globally, the "rich get richer and poor get poorer" phenomenon of the vaccine is extremely serious. As the pandemic continues in "vaccine-poor" countries and the vaccine’s efficacy decreases due to mutant strains of the virus that spread out of their borders, not even "vaccine-rich" countries are safe.

Intellectual property protections for things like the development of new medicines should be respected. However, this is a time of catastrophe. In a statement, Tai emphasized that “this is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures.” We have the experience of overcoming smallpox by sharing manufacturing techniques for antibiotics during World War II. If multinational pharmaceutical companies agree to the temporary suspension of intellectual property protections and share their technical skills, the whole world will be able to quickly overcome the vaccine shortage situation. This is a time in which we must escape the "logic of profit" and gather our strength through the "spirit of solidarity and cooperation."


미국 바이든 행정부가 코로나19 백신에 대한 지식재산권 효력의 일시 중지를 지지한다고 밝히면서, 백신 증산과 공평한 배분을 위한 전세계 논의에 중요한 돌파구가 열리게 됐다. 조 바이든 대통령과 캐서린 타이 미 무역대표부(USTR) 대표는 5일(현지시각) 미국이 세계무역기구(WTO)의 코로나 백신 지재권 일시 중지를 지지한다는 성명을 발표했다.
세계무역기구에선 지난해 10월부터 인도와 남아프리카공화국 주도로 코로나 백신의 지재권을 일시 중지하기 위한 논의가 진행되어왔다. 지금까지 약 100개국이 찬성했지만, 다국적 거대 제약사들이 있는 미국, 유럽연합(EU), 영국, 스위스 등은 강하게 반대했다. 그런데 이번에 ‘백신 부국’ 미국이 지지 입장으로 돌아서면서 논의가 진전을 이룰 수 있는 중대한 전환점을 맞게 됐다.
관건은 코로나 백신을 개발한 다국적 거대 제약사들의 태도다. 이들은 코로나 백신 지재권 일시 중지가 선례로 남는다면 다른 특허 의약품에 대한 복제약 허용 요구도 거세질 것이라고 우려하며 강하게 반대하고 있다. 이들 제약사가 백신을 계속 독점한다면, 인류가 ‘코로나 대재앙’에서 벗어나는 것은 불가능에 가깝다. 올해 4월 말까지 전세계에서 생산된 코로나 백신은 약 4억3000만회(2억1500만명분)에 불과하고 이런 추세라면 2023년까지도 빈곤 국가들은 대규모 백신 접종이 불가능하다고 <가디언>은 전했다. 선진국은 백신 접종이 속도를 내면서 점차 일상을 회복하고 있는 반면, 인도에선 하루 40만명이 코로나에 감염되고 치료도 제대로 받지 못하고 있다. 전세계적으로 코로나 백신의 ‘부익부 빈익빈’ 현상이 너무나 심각하다. ‘백신 빈국’에서 코로나 대유행이 지속되면 백신 효과를 떨어뜨리는 변이 바이러스가 국경을 넘어 확산돼 ‘백신 부국’들도 결코 안전할 수 없다.
신약 개발 등을 위한 지식재산권은 존중되어야 한다. 하지만 지금은 대재앙의 시기다. 타이 대표도 성명에서 “이것은 전세계적인 보건 위기이며, 코로나19 대유행의 특별한 상황은 특별한 조처를 요구한다”고 강조했다. 인류는 2차 세계대전 당시 항생제 제조법을 공유함으로써 천연두를 극복한 경험이 있다. 다국적 제약사들이 지재권의 일시 중지에 동의하고 기술을 이전하면 전세계가 백신 부족 사태를 빠르게 극복할 수 있다. ‘이익의 논리’에서 벗어나 ‘연대와 협력의 정신’으로 힘을 모아야 할 때다.
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