Rethinking pharma patents

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought home the nature of globalisation, like no other event has. Now, even a person living in a rural hinterland is able to discern the meaning and the impact of globalisation on our lives. Discussions are rife on whether the nature, extent and the rules governing global exchange will undergo a change once the world comes out of this pandemic. While the whole framework that administrates the globalised world (formulated by WTO) has been criticised, the one issue that is outstanding and which requires attention in the light of the current situation is that of patents on pharmaceuticals.

While it is fair that the owners of intellectual property are incentivised, there is also a need for a balance, so that the users of the product are not unduly taxed. This is especially true in the case of pharmaceuticals. It is the contention of pharma MNCs, that having invested enormous amounts on research it is only correct that they should get exclusive manufacturing and marketing rights (which they do, for a period of twenty years).

Having acquired these rights they sell the doses at a premium that is not affordable to many people in the developed countries. The WTO has made exceptions to these exclusive rights of IP owners in a situation where governments need to protect public health. Court battles between the developing countries (Indian has been such a party in such battles) and pharmaceutical MNCs over granting of compulsory licenses have been common ever since the TRIPS came into being. This background becomes important especially in the current situation as the world is waiting anxiously for a vaccine, to emerge out of a lockdown that seems endless. It is heartening to see that the scientific community has a head start as several candidates have entered the human trial phase.

It will be a huge breakthrough if a vaccine is invented in such a short span of time. The next problem that governments will face would be to make it available to all the populace. Heated arguments have already erupted over the statement of the chief executive of Sanofi--a French drug manufacturer, that its first batch of potential Covid-19 vaccine will go to the US as its government has funded the company in its search for a vaccine. To this, the French President has reacted with indignation and said that the vaccine is “a global public good, which is not submitted to market forces.” It would be no wonder if this potential vaccine is caught in the patent quagmire. Covid-19 is being a public health emergency, governments will have the right to issue a compulsory license, but it won’t be smooth sailing as it will be challenged in courts if past precedents are anything to go by.

Infectious diseases have been on the rise in the past few decades. This has been blamed on man’s irreverent interaction with the environment. There is, therefore, a likelihood that infectious diseases may multiply in the decades to come.

To address the problem, we need to change the way we live, but we would also need palliative measures in the form of vaccines and medicines.

The current system of IP rights is not conducive to the objective of making much-needed medicines affordable to the masses. It is time to come up with other ways to incentivise inventions, particularly in the field of medicine. Prize funding for research and tier pricing as a market model are two approaches that have already been suggested.

In fact, it is opined by many that the patent system is ‘anti-commons’ as it results in essential knowledge being locked-up. This has major implications in the field of health as there will be islands of information, inaccessible to others who are working to find a solution or ameliorate a problem. Also, it is a waste of time and resources as several people are working in the same direction in competition with each other.

This is what is happening currently as several drug majors are running a race against Covid-19 as well as against each other. This is an opportunity for world leaders to come together and find a common ground. That would be a stellar example of a globalised world.

(The writer is an independent researcher with an interest in WTO)