The COVID-19 Pandemic: Intellectual Property Management for Access to Diagnostics, Medicines and Vaccines, 30 April 2020 (Watch: Recorded Speakers’ Address from the Webinar here)
Event details
Developing countries and LDCs in particular in Africa are especially vulnerable to the unfolding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. A priority area for global collaboration is to ensure that diagnostics, vaccines and medicines are made available, affordable and accessible worldwide. There is currently no vaccine and no proven safe and effective direct therapy for COVID-19. There is also the need to accelerate testing capacity and tools in developing countries and LDCs with increased access to low-cost diagnostics. The approach to the management of intellectual property rights by research institutions, pharmaceutical and biotech companies and R&D funders will decisively affect availability and access, as well as the transfer of technology and know-how. Governments must ensure that they have legislative and procedural frameworks in place to enable them to over-come, consistently with the TRIPS Agreement, any patent, data exclusivity and trade secret barriers to procure and produce COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccines, medicines and other therapeutics.
Watch: Recorded Webinar Excerpts
Supporting Material
- Webinar Announcement Flyer
- Policy Brief 73, April 2020: The COVID-19 Pandemic: R&D and Intellectual Property Management for Access to Diagnostics, Medicines and Vaccines
- Policy Brief 75, April 2020: Rethinking R&D for Pharmaceutical Products After the Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 Shock
- Call For Action: Intellectual Property and Trade Measures to Address the Covid-19 Crisis by the South Centre
- Compulsory Licenses and Government Use of Patented Medicines: Precedents Relevant to Address Covid19