Intellectual Property in doldrums

Governments around the globe have been waiving common Intellectual Property (IP) laws for the treatment of COVID-19, which has adversely impacted the world. This has become a matter of concern for pharmaceutical firms, who are fiercely protective of their IP. BioSpectrum Asia delves into IP during the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on pharma innovation.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

Not all firms think alike though. When it comes to sharing IP, pharma firms are quite divided on the matter. There have been voluntary licenses from firms such as US-based AbbVie, which has suspended its global patent rights for Kaletra, an HIV drug that has been identified as a potential treatment for the coronavirus. Similarly, Gilead Sciences, Inc, an American biopharmaceutical company, has signed nonexclusive voluntary licensing agreements with generic pharmaceutical manufacturers based in Egypt, India and Pakistan to further expand supply of remdesivir, its antiviral drug used for the treatment of COVID-19.

Labrador Diagnostics, an American company, has also offered to grant royalty-free licenses to third parties to use its patented diagnostics technology for use in tests directed to COVID-19. Swiss firm Roche, has also recently released details of a formulation used in testing kits for the virus, following a plea from the Dutch government, according to reports. Pharma firms have been collaborating with each other, sharing expertise and technologies. Most of the firms are also part of the World Health Organization (WHO’s) COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, which brings together many different organizations to speed-up drug development.

However, most of the big pharma firms have pushed back against waiving IP rights as well as the concept of patent pool, as they feel it hampers innovation.

The WHO announced on May 29, 2020, the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) that will compile, in one place, pledges of commitment made under the Solidarity Call to Action to voluntarily share COVID-19 health technology-related knowledge, intellectual property and data. Most of the developing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, etc. have joined the WHO’s Solidarity Call to Action. However, none of the pharma firms have joined the initiative as yet.