Biden to waive COVID patents

@sh76 said
But to the underlying point:

What if a new variant makes development of a complex booster necessary. If you're Moderna, do you spend a hundred million dollars to develop the booster when you know you're not going to be able to control its production anyway?

A very interesting subject.
When I heard about it yesterday, I took a wee nose dive into the subject. I mean, who could be opposed to waivering patents like this during a pandemic, when the longer it can fester without vaccinations, the higher the chances of mutating to an extent the vaccinations don’t work?

Well, first of all, tax payers dollars have been pumped into the vaccination research. So there is something to be said that it’s ethical to waiver the patents.

A different point, seemingly, is that the slower roll-out in poorer nations has nothing to do with the patent at all, but there’s just not enough labs of sufficient quality to actually produce the needed vaccinations. So, waivering the patents won’t solve that problem.

Personally, I don’t see how not waivering the patents is going to make the situation better. So, in general, I think Biden’s step is a good one. Certainly since we’ve all helped pay for the research.

Now, if we all just get labs and equipment up and running all over the planet, we can start the mass production needed to stop corona and corona 2.0 when it rolls around in a few years’ time.

@shavixmir said
A very interesting subject.
When I heard about it yesterday, I took a wee nose dive into the subject. I mean, who could be opposed to waivering patents like this during a pandemic, when the longer it can fester without vaccinations, the higher the chances of mutating to an extent the vaccinations don’t work?

Well, first of all, tax payers dollars have been pumped into t ...[text shortened]... the mass production needed to stop corona and corona 2.0 when it rolls around in a few years’ time.

@kevcvs57 said
Well it might make it economically viable to build high quality production facilities in the developing / third world which would increase availability where it is desperately needed and kick start a high tec industry base in places wher they are desperately needed.
My worry is wether quality control is lost with the patent, but the patents have expired on many medicines th ...[text shortened]... shing out cheaper generic versions and I assume / hope that they are produced to a minimum standard.

@sh76 said
They're not claiming the power either.

Notice the language "administration's support." They're not claiming they can do this unilaterally.

To clarify what I said above, the US is a signatory of TRIPS, which member states agree to enforce the patents of member states. The Biden administration can withdraw from TRIPS, at least with regard to the COVAX. It can also encourage ...[text shortened]... n't unilaterally make a blanket prohibition on patent enforcement and they're not claiming they can.

The post that was quoted here has been removed

@rajk999 said
A recipe for more corruption among already crooked third world politicians

@sh76 said
Biden doesn't have the ability to unilaterally waive COVID patents. He can withdraw or suspend cooperation in TRIPS, but he can't stop private companies from suing to enforce their patent rights.

@mott-the-hoople said
Executive order. He doesnt have authority to set immigration policy either. Being illegal hasnt stopped him yet.

@sh76 said
He can't stop people from suing in federal court by executive order. There would be no constitutional mechanism for him to stop people's lawsuits.

Immigration is different. He can't change the law, but he can instruct the DHS to stop enforcing it.

@sh76 said
He can't stop people from suing in federal court by executive order. There would be no constitutional mechanism for him to stop people's lawsuits.

Immigration is different. He can't change the law, but he can instruct the DHS to stop enforcing it.

@sh76 said
Biden doesn't have the ability to unilaterally waive COVID patents. He can withdraw or suspend cooperation in TRIPS, but he can't stop private companies from suing to enforce their patent rights.

@vivify said
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-patent-waiver-biden/

Biden administration to support waiving COVID-19 patents

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has announced the administration's support for waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. Waiving patent protections has gained traction, especially among progressives, as COVI ...[text shortened]... pate in text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization needed to make that happen."