Pfizer and Moderna: "Cannot Waive COVID Vaccine Patents... Benefits China and Russia"

US Government Informed of Policy Against Waiving Vaccine Patents
Pressure to Waive Patents Spreads... Biden Administration Faces Dilemma

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, is touring the company's factory in Belgium on the 23rd together with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] American pharmaceutical companies have warned that the proposal to disclose COVID-19 vaccine patents for use by countries worldwide would benefit China and Russia. Although demands for patent disclosure have increased due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in India, it seems unlikely that the U.S. side will accept this.

On the 25th (local time), a major foreign media outlet reported that vaccine manufacturers warned in a closed meeting with officials from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the White House that waiving intellectual property rights related to vaccine production would enable China and Russia to acquire mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccine manufacturing technology.

The pharmaceutical companies reportedly argued that the global delay in vaccine distribution is due to manufacturing bottlenecks.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) proposed last October a measure allowing countries to temporarily suspend patent rights on epidemic-related medicines, and over 60 countries worldwide expressed support.

The previous Trump administration opposed the WTO proposal along with vaccine-developing and manufacturing countries such as the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), and Switzerland, but the situation has changed subtly under the Joe Biden administration. This is because Katherine Tai, USTR representative, hinted at the possibility of temporarily suspending vaccine manufacturing patents.

In a recent WTO speech, Representative Tai said, "We are hearing opinions on whether the market has failed to meet the health needs of developing countries. Reflecting this, we need to consider what modifications and reforms are necessary for trade rules." A vaccine manufacturer also openly expressed dissatisfaction with Tai’s remarks to the White House.

U.S. pharmaceutical companies are extremely wary of the leakage of mRNA vaccine technology. Since it is a new technology differentiated from existing vaccine manufacturing methods and has shown no significant side effects such as thrombosis, they insist it must be protected unconditionally. China and Russia have not independently secured mRNA technology.

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, recently emphasized the importance of this technology in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, stating, "mRNA technology holds tremendous potential."

Pressure to waive vaccine patents is also being raised within the U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, representing the progressive camp, along with many Democratic lawmakers, are demanding President Joe Biden waive the patents.

175 world leaders and Nobel laureates have also called on the U.S. to waive vaccine patents. Civic groups such as the progressive consumer organization Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch submitted a petition signed by 2 million people requesting patent waivers.

Some view President Biden’s pressure to resolve the battery dispute between LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation as not unrelated to the vaccine patent issue.

U.S. media outlets including Politico reported that President Biden feared that if he vetoed the ITC ruling on the battery intellectual property dispute to protect American jobs and the automotive industry, demands to suspend vaccine patents would increase further.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.