PhRMA Pushes Back Against WTO Proposal to Eliminate Patents for COVID-19 Products

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) is calling on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reject a proposal that would temporarily revoke patents for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, ahead of a WTO meeting on intellectual property scheduled for tomorrow.

In a submission to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the industry group describes as “extreme and unnecessary” a proposal by representatives from South Africa and India , which calls for compulsory licensing of COVID-19 products to ensure generic manufacturers get the patent approvals they need to manufacture at scale (DID, Dec. 14, 2020).

The proposal, which has not gained the support of wealthy nations like the U.S., EU and UK, is been considered by the WTO Council on Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) but it has failed to gather much momentum to date.

“U.S. leadership is essential to preventing such organizations from weakening or even eliminating the intellectual property protections that drive America’s innovation economy,” PhRMA wrote, referring to the WTO proposal and to compulsory licensing in general.

The PhRMA submission was made in advance of the annual U.S. “Special 301” report to the WTO, which occurs in late April and historically affirms American intellectual property rights.

Read PhRMA’s full submission here: www.fdanews.com/02-02-21-PhRMA2021Special301.pdf. ― Jason Scott