Vials containing Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson via Reuters
The White House is considering whether to suspend intellectual property protection for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments in response to pressure from developing countries and subsequent support from progressive lawmakers, according to three sources familiar with the case.
A temporary suspension of intellectual property protection would apply to all medical technologies to treat or prevent Covid-19. South Africa and India have made a formal request to the World Trade Organization to waive the protection until the pandemic is over, but the matter was filed without a resolution.
The White House called a meeting of deputy policymakers on March 22, a senior official said, but they did not reach a final decision.
The White House assessment comes in response to a letter sent by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in late March urging the government to look into the matter after several Democratic colleagues, including Reps. brought it to her attention. The letter has not been made public. But a senior assistant said Pelosi supports the position of its members, who are in favor of granting such a waiver, even on a temporary basis.
“The opinion is, ‘We won’t be safe until the world is safe,'” said one of the sources of the support of progressives on Capitol Hill.
The move would allow other countries to replicate existing vaccines. The United States has approved three vaccination shots so far: one developed by the American company Pfizer and Germany-based BioNTech, another produced by the American company Moderna, and the third made by the American company Johnson & Johnson.
Concern has grown over the US and a handful of other wealthy countries owning the rights to a disproportionate portion of the world’s vaccine supply, while other countries are struggling to inoculate their people.
The Hill first reported support for the move from progressive lawmakers.
The US Trade Representative’s office, which is expected to deliver a final judgment to the World Trade Organization, said saving lives and ending the pandemic remains the “top priority of the United States.”
“As part of rebuilding our alliances, we are exploring every opportunity to coordinate with our global partners and evaluating the effectiveness of this particular proposal against the true potential to save lives,” USTR spokesperson Adam Hodge said. CNBC.
The pharmaceutical industry has fiercely opposed the waiver of patent protection. It is concerned that this will undermine innovation to combat future diseases.
CNBC reached out to Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for comment.
Clete Willems, former deputy director of the National Economic Council, said lifting the protection would set a dangerous precedent for technology sharing.
“The government must avoid this trap, which would undermine the decades-long US policy against forced technology transfers to countries like China and will not directly increase the distribution of vaccines,” Willems, now a partner at Akin Gump, told CNBC. “The model they are pursuing with their Quad partners is much more promising.”
Ahead of a meeting on March 12, the Quad – a group made up of the US, India, Japan and Australia that wants to counter the influence of China – announced a complex financing deal that would improve vaccine production in the Indo-Pacific. where there is a shortage. The group has set a target to deliver up to 1 billion vaccines by 2022.
According to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 19% of US adults and about 15% of the total US population are fully vaccinated.
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