Amid growing concern over access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry trade group has lashed out at the World Health Organization and other global agencies for supporting efforts to pause patent rights in hopes of increasing supplies to poor countries.
In comments made to the U.S. Trade Representative, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America argued that the WHO and other agencies, including the World Trade Organization, were no longer reliable stewards of intellectual property rights and, instead, have been promoting a “range of harmful policies” that would hurt incentives for drug and vaccine makers.
“Multilateral organizations that once served as custodians of the international rules-based system increasingly are seeking to undermine and even eliminate intellectual property protections that drive and sustain biopharmaceutical innovation in the United States and around the world,” the trade group wrote in response to an upcoming report to be published by the U.S. Trade Rep.
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