A major state bioscience industry group on Saturday backed calls to protect pharmaceutical patents for COVID-19 vaccines.
The industry is mobilizing nationwide against the Biden administration’s endorsement of a global plan to waive patent protections for Covid vaccines so poor countries can manufacture their own versions at lower cost.
On Friday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that waiving vaccine patents would trigger a rush for the medications’ ingredients and threaten all vaccine manufacturing.
“Entities with little or no experience in manufacturing vaccines are likely to chase the very raw materials we require to scale our production, putting the safety and security of all at risk,” Bourla said in a statement. The move would also disincentivize companies from investing in future vaccines, he added, noting that Pfizer spent $2 billion on R&D while developing its COVID-19 shot.
“BioCT encourages the Biden administration to work with the pharmaceutical industry, not set harmful precedents,” the state group said in a statement.
BioCT’s parent organization, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), proposed an alternate plan last week to expedite the export of vaccine raw materials to boost global supply and identify and resolve bottlenecks slowing production. Export restrictions would also be eased under the plan to allow the U.S. to ship more vaccine doses overseas.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration endorsed a limited waiver of pharmaceutical companies’ intellectual property rights in order to increase access to the vaccine by lower income nations.
All 164 members of the World Trade Organization must approve any patent waivers.
