Protecting Medical Innovation Protects Patient Access

The WTO is now considering waiving the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS, with regard to Covid-19 diagnostics and treatments. This follows on a similar action taken by WTO to lift these long-standing protections for those who developed the Covid-19 vaccines. In response, the Global Alliance for Patient Access joined with other stakeholder organizations to submit a letter of opposition to the United States Trade Representative, requesting that the Biden Administration reconsider its support for this unnecessary policy.

Opponents of the so-called TRIPS waiver note that the proposal in misguided for the following reasons:

• Infrastructure Barriers: In many regions of the globe, the greatest barrier facing those seeking a covid test or treatment is not the lack of supply. Rather, struggling health care delivery systems and inadequate transportation and power infrastructure hinder patient access. A TRIPS waiver does not address these barriers.
• Undermining Patient Access: Patients who live with conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, HIV, or cancer are in desperate need of new medicines. However, the development of these new breakthrough treatments is only possible if strong IP protections exists, so that manufacturers might recoup the enormous investments incurred in the research and development of a new therapy. The weakening of these protections would result in decreased investment and innovation, and ultimately harm patients.
• A Better Solution: What is working is voluntary licensing agreements between the innovators and those who manufacture generic versions in low- and middle-income countries. These agreements between companies are resulting in millions of additional doses of therapies to be available.

The protection of intellectual property bolsters, rather than hinders, patient access through the pandemic and beyond. These protections encourage investment in research and development in new life-saving treatments for patients who desperately need them and continues to bring hope to patients for future treatments.

To learn more read: Fast Facts: Covid-19 Vaccination in Developing Countries.