Is the clock tick­ing on Mod­er­na's patent promise? Ac­tivists fear South African patents could hin­der vac­cine pro­duc­tion

Cit­ing its com­mit­ment to eq­ui­table vac­cine ac­cess, Mod­er­na pledged ear­ly on that it wouldn’t en­force its Covid-re­lat­ed IP rights while the pan­dem­ic is on­go­ing. But with talks of an en­dem­ic phase ap­proach­ing, some wor­ry South African patents will pre­vent a new man­u­fac­tur­er from pro­duc­ing much-need­ed shots.

“It’s up to Mod­er­na to make this de­ci­sion as a busi­ness,” said Yuan­qiong Hu, se­nior le­gal pol­i­cy ad­vi­sor at Médecins Sans Fron­tières/Doc­tors With­out Bor­ders (MSF).

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