Ride The Patent Waiver

Context: While a global consortium is a preferred solution to scaling up vaccine production, an alternative in the form of patents waiver remains a formidable approach in the fight against Covid-19.

Waiver of patents as a solution to scaling up of vaccines: Recent developments:

• India and South Africa originally sponsored and submitted the proposal for such a waiver at WTO on Oct 2, 2020.
• The biggest coup has been the conversion of the US to the proposal last week, pressuring EU to fall in line as well.

Acknowledging the need for scaling up vaccines: The only solution to tackle the covid is to scale up the global vaccine supply. For this, 70-80% of the global population must be vaccinated.

• An individual country will remain unsafe even if it vaccinates 70-80% of its population; thus there is a need for a global consortium formed by all countries to support vaccine delivery.

Significance of building the consortium: It would buy, via an auction, the patents and manufacturing know-how associated with one or two existing vaccines.

• The consortium could then make the patents and manufacturing knowhow available freely to all national governments, in turn, making them available to potential vaccine manufacturers. Its benefits are:
  • The auction would generate intense competition among the patent-holders.
  • This will also lead to reduced costs bringing benefits to the humanity at large.
• Unfortunately, the current state of global leadership is unlikely to permit this solution and is pursuing a solution around waiver on all patents.

Debunking the arguments of opposers of patent waivers

• It will make no difference to the supply of vaccines: Patent holders believe this based on complex development process which requires the presence of patent holders.
  • While some vaccines would be difficult to produce, some would be easier, which would scale the production and eat into the profits of former.
• Limited global supply of intermediate inputs, rather than access to patent, is the real constraint:
  • However, once the waiver makes it feasible for new manufacturers to enter vaccine production, input suppliers would see an opportunity to expand their supplies.

Way Forward:

• Utilize the brownfield production capacity: It is estimated that there already exists an unused brownfield production capacity of up to 1.5 billion vaccine shots a year.
  • With its well-developed vaccine manufacturing ecosystem, India is well-positioned to ramp up its production of Covaxin at speed.
• De-risking potential in greenfield production: Currently, many potential manufacturers have been in negotiation with patent-holders to deploy the brownfield capacities or set up greenfield capacities.

Conclusion: The goal should be to reach a total of 300 million units a month by July, and 500 million units by the end of the year. Only then India would be able to reclaim the title of vaccine factory of the world.