Where does India truly stand on the TRIPS Waiver: Q&A with Murali Neelakantan

India has played a crucial role in supporting South Africa, as a lead co-sponsor in bringing the TRIPS Waiver proposal to the WTO in October 2020. In the months since, more than 60 other WTO members have formally supported the proposal – a bold initiative that seeks to temporarily suspend a range of intellectual property protections in order to decisively respond to the pandemic by seeking to unblock production shortages for critical COVID-19 medical products. As these discussions reach a critical juncture ahead of the WTO ministerial in November this year, concerns have been expressed on India’s commitment to the waiver proposal. … Continue reading Where does India truly stand on the TRIPS Waiver: Q&A with Murali Neelakantan

The many promises of the mRNA tech transfer hub in Africa

WHO: New consortium working to boost vaccine production in South Africa: MPP, WHO, AFRIGEN, BIOVAC, SAMRC, and Africa CDC sign a letter of intent towards establishing the tech transfer hub in South Africa “The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and the World Health Organization (WHO),  Afrigen Biologics (PTY) Limited, the Biologicals and Vaccines Institute of Southern Africa  (Biovac), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have signed a letter of intent to address the global imbalance of manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines.” The letter of intent sets out the terms of the collaboration and responsibilities between … Continue reading The many promises of the mRNA tech transfer hub in Africa

Confidential Communication on the TRIPS Waiver Shows the EU’s Unwillingness to Negotiate

When the European Commission presented a proposal in June 2021 laying out its strategy on the role of intellectual property in addressing the pandemic, critics were quick to conclude that it was an effort to undermine the TRIPS waiver. Yet, many diplomats at the WTO hoped to engage in what they call “good faith negotiations”. Internal communications suggest this may not be the case. A confidential communication sent by diplomats of a Western European Country in June 2021, has come to light that illustrates the EU’s stated reluctance to negotiate the waiver proposal. Experts suggest that it also reveals the problematic ways … Continue reading Confidential Communication on the TRIPS Waiver Shows the EU’s Unwillingness to Negotiate

Spanner in the works for a pandemic treaty: The U.S., Brazil & Russia Converge to Oppose EU plans at WHO, Discussions Continue

EU-led plans for pushing through with the setting up of an inter-governmental body to undertake negotiations for a pandemic treaty have been soured by unwillingness on the part of a few member states of WHO including US, Mexico, Brazil and Russia, among others, according to diplomatic sources in Geneva. As this story went to print, countries were locked in consultations on a decision text which if approved by the World Health Assembly would kick start the process for negotiations towards a treaty. It is not clear whether countries were likely to reach a consensus on these discussions before the start … Continue reading Spanner in the works for a pandemic treaty: The U.S., Brazil & Russia Converge to Oppose EU plans at WHO, Discussions Continue

“A hole in the firewall”: The WHO Foundation & WHO

The governance of global health has changed in radical ways just in the last 12 months. But potentially lasting changes, some would argue long predicted, are defining new ways of financing which may alter the governance in ways that directly run counter to the very goals of public health. These have been normalized and adopted without adequate consultation of member states of WHO, and despite concerns raised by stakeholders in the civil society. The new WHO Foundation, a non-profit legal entity that has been established to fundraise for WHO might have already caused conflicts of interest arising over recent donations … Continue reading “A hole in the firewall”: The WHO Foundation & WHO

Hyo Yoon Kang on the financialization of intellectual property & COVID-19

At Geneva Health Files, we make a concerted effort to use inter-disciplinary reporting approaches given the very nature of global health which straddles so many disciplines. It is, therefore, with great pleasure that we bring you this pertinent interview with intellectual property law expert,  Hyo Yoon Kang, a reader in law at Kent Law School, University of Kent. Kang, who has cross-disciplinary training, has worked at the intersection of law, history of sciences, and science and technology studies. In this enlightening interview she examines the embedded politics in the very foundations of intellectual property law and picks apart the arguments … Continue reading Hyo Yoon Kang on the financialization of intellectual property & COVID-19

The cautionary tale of the COVAX Facility

With every passing month, the unanticipated challenges facing the COVAX Facility mounts. Take the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been reckoned as the backbone of the Facility. Rising hesitancy towards this vaccine in the EU and elsewhere because of rare incidents of blood clots, despite the safety of the vaccine vouched by regulators, is only one concern. Following production shortages in the EU that broke out earlier in the year, the barriers to access AZ doses continue – the latest being on account of Indian government’s decision to temporarily hold the export of the vaccine to quell the surge of COVID-19 infections in the country. A press release issued by … Continue reading The cautionary tale of the COVAX Facility

Pathogens-Sharing & The Pandemic Treaty: The Commercial Link

The rules on how information on pathogens and genetic sequences will be shared could be determined under a proposed pandemic treaty. This is important because even though countries may share physical samples of pathogens and genetic sequence data, they could be excluded from having access to vaccines and diagnostics developed based on this information without binding commitments on benefits sharing. COVID-19 shows us, this has happened. Leaders from more than 25 different countries have rallied behind the idea of a pandemic treaty, and want a new instrument to be negotiated under the Constitution of the World Health Organization. They hope that the … Continue reading Pathogens-Sharing & The Pandemic Treaty: The Commercial Link

WHO donors seek a new tech transfer hub under ACT-A, C-TAP sidelined

A new technology transfer hub to facilitate bilateral licensing arrangements, is being proposed by France and powerful private groups, to be under established in the ACT Accelerator, away from the C-TAP. For a world grappling with acute shortages of vaccines – the panacea to fight the pandemic and to restore the economy – technology transfer has come to emerge as a key to unlock idle manufacturing capacities which can be repurposed to churn out vaccines for an endless global queue of susceptible populations under the threat of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. One year into the pandemic and more than 2.6 … Continue reading WHO donors seek a new tech transfer hub under ACT-A, C-TAP sidelined

The Third Way: Unblocking the TRIPS Waiver Logjam

The Third Way suggested by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO’s new director-general who assumes office on Monday, March 1, may pave the way for negotiations on the TRIPS Waiver proposal, sources in Geneva say. In her remarks recently, Okonjo-Iweala suggested the use of TRIPS flexibilities and the voluntary licensing approach to deftly address the pandemic. This, proponents of the TRIPS Waiver proposal, say, could be a significant moment in these discussions, which could bring to the negotiating table countries opposing the waiver. So far, opposing countries have locked the proponents of the proposal in a so-called “evidentiary loop” without moving towards text-based negotiations. For … Continue reading The Third Way: Unblocking the TRIPS Waiver Logjam