US Supports Temporary Exemption Of New Crown Vaccine Intellectual Property Protection

        On May 5 local time, U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai said in a statement that the Biden administration would temporarily exempt intellectual property rights of the new crown vaccine. This triggered a big "dive" in vaccine stocks. Both US stocks, a shares, Hong Kong stocks, vaccine stocks showed varying degrees of decline.

However, negotiations on the proposal remain stalled and long-term. It requires not only the agreement of all WTO members, but also the agreement of vaccine developers and producers. Currently, the American Association of pharmaceutical research and manufacturers, which includes multiple pharmaceutical companies, is opposed to the proposal. When the world will be able to achieve exemption from the protection of intellectual property rights of the new crown vaccine is still unknown.

At the same time, India, a major producer of vaccines, is facing a growing epidemic, which has led the government to restrict the export of new vaccines, which may aggravate the problems of global vaccine distribution and fairness.

The Biden administration will temporarily exempt the protection of the intellectual property rights of the new crown vaccine. This triggered a big "dive" in vaccine stocks. Xinhua News Agency

Many governments support promoting vaccine access

"This is a global health crisis and the special circumstances of the new crown pneumonia pandemic require extraordinary measures," said Dai. The government firmly supports intellectual property protection, but in order to end the pandemic, it supports abandoning intellectual property protection for the new coronavirus vaccine. We will actively participate in the text-based negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to achieve this goal. "

"The government's goal is to provide safe and effective vaccines to as many people as possible as soon as possible," she stressed. As we provide vaccine protection to the American people, the government will continue to increase its efforts - in partnership with the private sector and all possible partners - to expand vaccine production and distribution. In addition, the government will strive to increase the raw materials needed for the production of the new crown vaccine. "

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference held on the 6th that China supports paying attention to the issue of vaccine accessibility. China expects all parties to actively carry out constructive discussions within the framework of the WTO in order to reach an effective and balanced result. China is willing to make its own contribution to promoting the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries.

During the NCV pandemic, who has been working with partners to equitably distribute vaccines to high-risk groups around the world by participating in the covax facility.

World Health Organization (who) director general tamdesai called for "let us unite and act quickly on the basis of the wisdom and commitment of scientists who have developed a life-saving new crown vaccine."

However, she pointed out that negotiations would take time, given that the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling was based on a consensus of 164 members and the complexity of the issues involved.

A U.S. government official, who declined to be named, added that she held at least 24 meetings and teleconferences with various industry stakeholders, including major vaccine manufacturers. The official also said that Daiqi plans to promote friendly cooperation among global enterprises to ease supply chain bottlenecks.

Biden confirmed on the 5th that the White House will support the WTO's intellectual property exemption proposal.

The proposed exemption means that other pharmaceutical companies can produce generic vaccines. But the truth is not simple.

Patent agent Xu Qian told 21st century economic reporter that it depends on the situation, such as whether the patents abandoned by the United States have been applied for protection in other countries“ In addition, whether the production of the new crown vaccine can be realized only by the patent technology they abandoned. If other patented technologies are involved, it can not be continuously promoted. "

Xu Qian stressed to reporters that, like the intellectual property rights of innovative drugs, vaccines will apply for patents at every step, so it is necessary to open patents for each process to be useful.

A number of vaccine stocks fell sharply

The American Association of pharmaceutical research and manufacturers (adrma) strongly opposed the Biden administration's statement that it would give up the protection of vaccine intellectual property rights. Members of the industry group include vaccine manufacturers such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

Stephen J. UBI, President and CEO of the association, said, "in this deadly pandemic, the Biden administration has taken unprecedented measures that will undermine our global response to the pandemic and endanger security. This decision will create confusion between public and private partners, further weaken the already strained supply chain and facilitate the proliferation of counterfeit vaccines. "

In addition, according to the 21st century economic report, exempting the intellectual property rights of the new crown vaccine may affect the revenue of many pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines. Among multinational pharmaceutical companies that have published financial reports, vaccine revenue accounted for a large proportion in the first quarter.

Pfizer said that in the first quarter, revenue from the new crown vaccine was $3.5 billion, and it is expected to be $26 billion for the whole year, accounting for at least 36% of the company's annual revenue, 73% higher than the previous Pfizer's expected revenue of $15 billion. Pfizer plans to submit an application for full use of the vaccine in the United States at the end of this month, raising its annual revenue guidelines by at least 18% and increasing earnings per share by 14%.

AstraZeneca first disclosed sales data for the new crown vaccine in its first quarter earnings report on April 30. In the first quarter, sales of AstraZeneca's new crown vaccine reached 275 million US dollars, including 224 million US dollars in the European market. It is reported that AstraZeneca delivered about 68 million doses of new coronal vaccine in the quarter, equivalent to the price of each dose of vaccine about $4.

Johnson & Johnson's new crown vaccine also boosted the growth of its pharmaceutical business in the first quarter. According to the company's first quarter financial report, the pharmaceutical business sales volume was 12.199 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%, including the sales of Xinguan vaccine of US $100 million.

On May 5, after the news that the United States decided to give up the protection of intellectual property rights of new crown vaccines, many vaccine and pharmaceutical enterprises turned from up to down. As of May 5, US local time, Pfizer was flat with the previous trading day, Moderna fell 10% at one time, and finally closed down 6.1%, while Johnson & Johnson fell slightly by 0.4%.

India epidemic may affect global vaccine distribution

The U.S. government's move comes at a time when new coronavirus infections have soared to the highest levels in countries with difficulties in purchasing or distributing vaccines, in sharp contrast to other countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

According to Xinhua news agency, the severity of the second wave of new crown epidemic in India has been hovering at an alarming high level. More than 300000 new cases have been confirmed in a single day for two consecutive weeks, with a total of more than 20 million confirmed cases, Xinhua reported.

In April, Indian Prime Minister modi and Biden discussed the possibility of removing patent protection for the new crown vaccine. This initiative will enable governments to obtain life-saving doses faster and more affordable.

According to reports, world trade organization leaders this week urged member states to quickly finalize the details of an agreement to temporarily relax rules protecting intellectual property rights in coronavirus vaccines. The exemption, proposed by South Africa and India, could remove barriers to increased vaccine production in developing countries. At present, this proposal has been supported by nearly 60 countries.

However, critics say vaccine patents and other protection measures are not the main obstacles to producing more vaccines for the countries that need them most. Some also believe that such agreements could undermine the innovation drive of companies.

Clete Willems, a former lawyer at the U.S. trade representative's office, said, "this is a huge mistake made by the Biden administration. This will not help increase the distribution of vaccines. A solution more in line with the Biden administration's goal of improving U.S. competitiveness and maintaining U.S. jobs is to produce and export vaccines from the United States. "

The lack of vaccine supply inevitably leads to criticism of vaccine manufacturers. Issues about vaccine prices, production capacity and supply destinations have plagued the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India (SII).

Adar poonawalla, chief executive of SII, a maker of the new coronavirus developed jointly by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, said the agency had been accused of being a scapegoat for vaccine shortages and politicians, "and I was hurt very unfairly and wrongly.".

He added that the initial lack of capacity increase was due to "no orders, we don't think we need to produce more than one billion doses a year.".

India is a major vaccine producer, but its domestic health crisis has led to restrictions on the export of new crown vaccines due to the country's priority in domestic demand.

The analysis indicates that India's restrictions on vaccine exports may make low-income countries vulnerable to new coronavirus outbreaks.