Negotiations in Geneva – WTO: Patent protection for corona vaccines to be limited – News
- After a second night session, representatives of the 164 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed on several agreements.
- Among other things, the countries agreed on a limited suspension of Covid patents to enable the production of vaccines in more countries.
The only thing to note is that the 164 WTO member countries have come to an agreement. Decisions by the World Trade Organization must be taken unanimously. That has always failed in recent years. Patent protection was an important topic at the ministerial conference in Geneva. According to the decision, it should now be limited.
Future corona vaccines should be able to be produced in more countries than before. Countries like India and South Africa in particular wanted that. During the corona pandemic, they wanted to be allowed to produce vaccines that the pharmaceutical industry had developed themselves in order to get better access to these funds. On the other hand, Switzerland, as a location for large pharmaceutical companies, together with the EU and others, opposed such a relaxation of patent protection.
This is for fear of setting a precedent for patent relaxations. Now the WTO has reached a compromise that the countries support, but which does not go far enough for civil and aid organizations.