Pfiz­er calls pro­posed IP waiv­er for Covid vac­cines a 'dis­trac­tion' from find­ing re­al so­lu­tions on ac­cess

While it seems ob­vi­ous that Pfiz­er would op­pose any move at the World Trade Or­ga­ni­za­tion to waive the com­pa­ny’s in­tel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty rights, the mR­NA pow­er­house re­cent­ly spelled out its im­me­di­ate con­cerns with such a waiv­er in writ­ing for the first time, call­ing it “a dis­trac­tion from the re­al so­lu­tions to im­prove vac­cine ac­cess.”

In re­sponse to a par­lia­men­tary in­quiry in Aus­tralia on vac­cine-re­lat­ed fraud and se­cu­ri­ty risks, Pfiz­er not­ed that the waiv­er pro­pos­al at the WTO “in­cor­rect­ly por­trays IP as a bar­ri­er to rapid in­no­va­tion, R&D col­lab­o­ra­tion and ac­cess to COVID-19 vac­cines and oth­er prod­ucts. On the con­trary, IP rules are en­abling an un­prece­dent­ed amount of in­no­va­tion and fa­cil­i­tat­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion be­tween bio­phar­ma in­no­va­tors and part­ners. Elim­i­nat­ing IP pro­tec­tions would not speed up vac­cine pro­duc­tion.”

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