Walk The Talk On TRIPS Waiver

Context: The Government should walk the talk in terms of IP waiver and offer Covaxin’s technology to domestic pharmaceutical companies and foreign corporations.

Challenges associated with Covid-19 vaccine TRIPs waiver proposal

• Uncertainties: Regarding the time of adoption and conditions the waiver will be subjected to.
• Compulsory licensing withheld: Citing difficulties associated with vaccine production in the absence of technology transfer.
  • Despite the nudging by the judiciary and others, the Government inexplicably hasn’t made use of compulsory licences in the pandemic.
• Contradictory Government stand: The Central Government, in an affidavit before Supreme Court, suggests that issuance of compulsory licences will not be effective, whereas India is pursuing patent waiver proposal in WTO.
  • Government argues that the unavailability of raw materials and essential inputs are major bottlenecks in vaccine production and patent waiver is only about overcoming legal impediments, not about addressing supply-side bottlenecks.
  • The Government believes that voluntary licences, not compulsory licences, are the way forward to address shortage of COVID-19 medical products.

Way forward

• Leverage existing flexibilities: To make the TRIPS waiver stand convincing, Government needs to make aggressive use of the Patents Act 1970
  • Sections 92 and 100 of the Act allows for licensing of all patents necessary to make COVID-19 medical products without waiting for a private party to apply for a licence.
  • For instance, Natco, an Indian pharmaceutical company, has requested a compulsory licence under Section 92 of the Patents Act for Baricitinib, a COVID­19 drug.
  • An assertive posture on compulsory licences will also advantageously force several pharmaceutical companies to offer voluntary licenses.
• Licensing Covaxin: Given the involvement of taxpayers’ money in development of Covaxin, Government has a stake in its IPR.
  • Government should not only transfer Covaxin’s technology to domestic pharmaceutical companies but also to foreign corporations to boost national supplies, making itself truly the ‘pharmacy of the world’.