“The EU is ready to discuss how the US proposal for an intellectual property” patent “waiver for Covid vaccines can help achieve the goal of” addressing the global Covid crisis “effectively and pragmatic “. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, chooses her intervention on the State of the Union, in Florence, to open the proposal of the US president, Joe Biden. The 27 leaders will already discuss it at the informal summit in Porto. But while the prices of pharmaceutical companies collapse on the stock exchange, and the Big Pharma are expressing all their alarm, from Berlin – while opening up to discussion – Angela Merkel lets her skepticism filter through. “The protection of intellectual property is a source of innovation and must remain so in the future,” she says.
A voice out of the chorus that of the German Chancellor, while the ally of all time, the French President Emmanuel Macron, says he is “completely in favor of the revocation”. The position of Prime Minister Mario Draghi appears more nuanced: “Vaccines are a global common good. It is a priority to increase their production, guaranteeing their safety, and breaking down the obstacles that limit vaccination campaigns”, says the premier to the eve of departure for Porto. Minister Roberto Speranza, on the other hand, rejoices: “Biden’s turning point is an important step forward”. And the head of the Farnesina, Luigi Di Maio, comments: “Italy is there, Europe does not miss this opportunity and show that it is united and courageous”.
The UN secretary, Antonio Guterres, applauds “for the unprecedented support of the US”. The director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, speaks of “great satisfaction”. The president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, made it known that the Eurochamber “is ready to discuss” any proposal that helps speed up the vaccination process globally. Even the Russian, Vladimir Putin, says he is ready to endorse the idea. But faced with patent fever, Farmindustria says it is “surprised and worried”. These are “initiatives – he stresses – which certainly do not solve the problem of having suffered more vaccines”. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla declares that he is “not at all” in favor, while the German laboratory BioNTech warns: “patents are not the limiting factor in the production and supply” of immunizers. “They would not increase world production or supply in the short and medium term”. Meanwhile, a thud on Wall Street for the US pharmaceutical company Moderna, whose stock has come to lose more than 9%, while Pfizer has scored over -2%.
There is also caution in Brussels. In some buildings of the institutions it is highlighted: the question that the EU is asking itself and what is the best way to vaccinate the world population in the short term. “It is the revocation of patents on vaccines, knowing that to establish a production line it takes at least a year. And for the discussion at the WTO it will take at least two”, or it is better to aim at strengthening production capacity
“is asked rhetorically. L “The EU has never closed the export of vaccines, as the US and the UK did. Brussels has authorized the transfer of 200 million doses, as many as it has delivered to its citizens to date.” the negotiation can last, and the start of production “, insist the sources.
The fear is that the discussion will distract from the real goal. Serums are needed now. The Covax mechanism, for donations to low- and middle-income countries, has received only 53 million doses against the two billion expected within the year, intended to immunize 20% of those populations. In short, it is necessary to donate rather than liberalize patents. Also because the move could discourage research by European and US industries, to the benefit of Russia and China.
