Chamber Says IP Rights Waiver Misguided
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Patrick Kilbride said existing intellectual property rights “formed the legal and economic basis for an unprecedented level of highly successful collaborations between government, industry, academia” and non-governmental organizations, He said the Chamber supports the COVAX global initiative and removing regulatory barriers to boost distribution of COVID-19 vaccines but not a waiver of IP rights. Proposals to waive IP rights “are misguided and a distraction from the real work of reinforcing supply chains and assisting countries to procure, distribute and administer vaccines to billions of the world’s citizens. Diminishing intellectual property rights would make it more difficult to quickly develop and distribute vaccines or treatments in the future pandemics the world will face,” Kilbride said in a statement issued March 2.
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The Chamber said a proposal from World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on licensing agreements is “worthy of further discussion.”