[fuser]

Wealthy countries - including the UK - are blocking proposals to help developing nations increase their vaccine manufacturing capabilities, documents leaked to BBC Newsnight show.

Several poorer countries have asked the World Health Organization to help them.

But richer nations are pushing back on provisions in international law that would enable them to achieve this.

This is according to a leaked copy of the negotiating text of a WHO resolution on the issue.

Among those richer nations are the UK, the US, as well as the European Union.

UK fighting patent-free Covid vaccine proposals
World on brink of catastrophic moral failure - WHO
India begins world's biggest Covid vaccine drive

"Where we could have language in there that would make it easier for countries to produce more vaccines and more medicines within their country, it would include initiatives that would finance and facilitate that. The UK is on the opposite side of the argument of trying to remove those kinds of progressive proposals from the text," says Diarmaid McDonald, from Just Treatment, a patient group for fair access to medicines.

A spokesperson for the UK government says "a global pandemic requires a global solution and the UK is leading from the front, driving forward efforts to ensure equitable access around the world to Covid vaccines and treatments".

The spokesperson says the UK is one of the largest donors to international efforts to ensure over one billion doses of coronavirus vaccines get to developing countries this year.

If and when governments should intervene to ensure affordable supplies of medicines is a long-standing issue.

But the ability of different countries to source vaccines and drugs has been highlighted by the pandemic.

Many experts say equitable access to vaccines is essential to prevent cases and deaths and to contribute to global population immunity.

But the global capacity for producing vaccines is about a third of what is needed, says Ellen t'Hoen, an expert in medicines policy and intellectual property law.

"These are vaccines that are produced in wealthy countries and are in general kept by those wealthy countries.

"Developing nations are saying we need to have a share of the pie, not only the share of the vaccines, but also the share of the right to produce these vaccines," she adds.

To make a vaccine you not only need to have the right to produce the actual substance they are composed of (which is protected by patents), you also need to have the knowledge about how to make them because the technology can be complex.

The WHO does not have the authority to sidestep patents - but it is trying to bring countries together to find a way to bolster vaccine supplies.

The discussions include using provisions in international law to get around patents and helping countries to have the technical ability to make them.

But the drug industry argues that eroding patents would hinder its ability to invest in future treatments for Covid and other illnesses.

Earlier this month, representatives of the US drug industry wrote to US President Joe Biden to share their concerns.

"Eliminating those protections would undermine the global response to the pandemic," they wrote, including ongoing efforts to tackle new variants.

It would also create confusion that could potentially undermine public confidence in vaccine safety, and create a barrier to information sharing, the representatives said.

"Most importantly, eliminating protections would not speed up production," they added.

Others agree. Anne Moore, an expert in vaccine immunology, worries about what impact undermining patents will have on future research.

"Over time we see fewer and fewer organisations and commercial companies being in the vaccine field because there's so little return on it," she says.

Drug companies point out they have also donated financially and given medicines to help tackle the pandemic.

But campaigners argue that about £90bn ($125bn) of public money has gone into developing Covid treatments and vaccines so the public should have a stake. Once the pandemic ends, there is a lot of money to be made, they say.

"It's obvious that there are longer-term plans to increase the price of these vaccines once the most urgent phase of the pandemic is over. So that is another reason why developing countries are saying we need to gain the ability to produce these vaccines ourselves now," Ms t'Hoen says.

Source

Furthermore:

A few weeks later, Oxford—urged on by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—reversed course. It signed an exclusive vaccine deal with AstraZeneca that gave the pharmaceutical giant sole rights and no guarantee of low prices—with the less-publicized potential for Oxford to eventually make millions from the deal and win plenty of prestige.

Source

Now let's all gather around and hear these people's TED talk on humanitarianism, the need for everyone to come together, and other such nonsense.

[noemon]

The EU is mentioned just to tar her name by the BBC but no activity by the EU is then listed anywhere, not even the reality that goes against the narrative.

The EU has threatened to engage article 122 and strip all pharma's of the copyrights.

The UK has gone on war footing hearing this. With all newspapers closing ranks and trumpeting nonsense against the "anti-capitalist" measures that the EU is considering.

[B0ycey]

Now let's all gather around and hear these people's TED talk on humanitarianism, the need for everyone to come together, and other such nonsense.

Yes, yes yes. INDEED!

One problem though. Capitalism. Seems greed before health after all. We could share the IP and have global production ramped up big time in a month. But I think big pharma are looking long term now on boosters. So they aren't sharing anything to anyone. Big countries are now hiding behind contracts for their over supply of vaccines or even worse there is talk of holding back ingredients that really would mess the vaccine process up for everyone, even themselves. We should all be working together on this but we are seeing vaccination nationalism on many levels, and as such contracts and where production is are the key battlefields now. And whilst rich nations bicker amongst themselves, we seem to have lost sight that no one is safe until we are all vaccinated. I mean christ, new variants from Brazil and SA may even mean we are not protected from what we have. And we haven't even started the global vaccination program yet.

BIGGEST CLUSTERFUCK EVER!

[AFAIK]

Bill Gates has a long history of using his wealth to pressure gov'ts into buying patented medicine instead of allowing manufactures to produce generics. I wonder how much longer he'll be able to present himself as a philanthropist before public opinion recognises that his foundation in a lobbyist for patent monopolies.

[Unthinking Majority]

This is not the time for vaccine companies to make profits. This is the time to get a vaccine to as many people worldwide as fast as humanly possible in order to eradicate the virus before it mutates into something that turns into the flu, which cannot be eradicated.

[Atlantis]

@fuser,

- For Indian generic producers it would be very profitable to get the intellectual property free of charge and without having to invest in R&D. The Indian Serum Institute, which got the license of the Oxford vaccine free of charge, sells the vaccine to poor countries (South Africa, etc.) at about 2.5 times the price paid by Western countries. It's all about profit for Western companies just like for their competitors in poor countries.

- Everybody is free to make traditional deactivated virus vaccines like the Chinese, which no longer have patent protection.

- To transfer intellectual property, acquire the know-how and build state-of-the-art production facilities for the new technologies will take 1 to 2 years in the best of scenarios. Thus, by the time other countries can start producing the Covid vaccines, the market will be flooded by more vaccines than we need. In fact, the rich countries will start giving away their vaccines later this year.

- The successful vaccine manufacturers have already entered into partnerships with their competitors to ramp up production.

- Depriving small innovative start-ups of their intellectual property will allow big pharma to take them over and deprive the world of new vaccines against the virus variants and cancer treatments we need for the future.

- The rich countries invested at least 20 billions to develop and pre-finance Covid vaccine production. Without that, there wouldn't be any vaccines to share with the poor countries.

In conclusion, waiving patent rights:

- won't get us any more Covid vaccines,

- will deprive the innovators of the revenues for future innovation,

- will benefit the financial institutions that are only interested in the profit.

All of this is blindingly obvious. Millions die every year of tropical diseases because new drugs and vaccines are not developed for these diseases. Commercial companies cannot recover the development cost in poor countries and public institutions are not very good at bringing new products to market.

If you want to disown somebody, start with the financial institutions that control the business from Wall Street or the City. Don't punish the innovators that save us from the pandemic after the politicians have failed.

[late]

This disease loves to mutate. Leaving billions unvaccinated meaning new strains will show up at your front door, with a chance your vaccination will be helpless to stop it.

So.. this needs to get done.

Which means it will need to be a team effort, with everyone chipping in.

[Pants-of-dog]

- To transfer intellectual property, acquire the know-how and build state-of-the-art production facilities for the new technologies will take 1 to 2 years in the best of scenarios.

This seems incorrect.

Transferring or getting rid of patents would not take that long, the knowhow is already there, and facilities could be put together in matter of months.

In fact, the rich countries will start giving away their vaccines later this year.

- The successful vaccine manufacturers have already entered into partnerships with their competitors to ramp up production.

I doubt this very much.

- Depriving small innovative start-ups of their intellectual property will allow big pharma to take them over and deprive the world of new vaccines against the virus variants and cancer treatments we need for the future.

No. If we do not allow patents for small companies, we would not allow then for big companies either.

- The rich countries invested at least 20 billions to develop and pre-finance Covid vaccine production. Without that, there wouldn't be any vaccines to share with the poor countries.

And?

[B0ycey]

I enjoyed the notion that giving someone the license to produce a vaccine when they have the capacity to do so but not the right to do so means that we still wouldn't produce more vaccines than we are now by two year. We have literally set up plants in two months.

Besides nobody is asking government to force manufactuerers to give up their IP. Nor are they saying that this should be across the board on all R&D products. They are suggesting that the manufacturers do it morally with out coercion given this pandemic is meant to be the "big thing". I mean seriously. If this virus had a death and symptom rate of Ebola, our response, lead up conclusion and set up of attack would have failed big time. Capitalism has set us back by at least a seven years and I would say perhaps longer given that estimate is based on current rate and not taking account new variants due to limiting who can make what. Big Pharma are looking at profits from boosters. No doubt about that.

[wat0n]

My understanding is that right now production isn't being ramped up because of a lack of production of the inputs necessary for vaccine production, not because of patent issues.

This is also affecting vaccine production in general, not just the COVID vaccines.

[fuser]

I haven't seen such ridiculous excuses for something in a long time.

For Indian generic producers it would be very profitable to get the intellectual property free of charge and without having to invest in R&D. The Indian Serum Institute, which got the license of the Oxford vaccine free of charge, sells the vaccine to poor countries (South Africa, etc.) at about 2.5 times the price paid by Western countries. It's all about profit for Western companies just like for their competitors in poor countries.

But you told me it will take 2 years in a best-case scenario to start producing these vaccines. What sorcery is this? How is the Indian Serum Institute not only producing it but also selling it to foreign nations? May be its a good idea to allow more and more manufacturers to produce these vaccines so we can stop actual people dying on daily basis rather than thinking of the profits.

To transfer intellectual property, acquire the know-how and build state-of-the-art production facilities for the new technologies will take 1 to 2 years in the best of scenarios. Thus, by the time other countries can start producing the Covid vaccines, the market will be flooded by more vaccines than we need. In fact, the rich countries will start giving away their vaccines later this year.

Utter nonsense. Ridiculous counterfactuals are not any argument. People are already manufacturing right now and it took mere months not years.

The rich countries invested at least 20 billions to develop and pre-finance Covid vaccine production. Without that, there wouldn't be any vaccines to share with the poor countries.

Oh, so this is your moralistic argument? It won't be fair? Then I can also well go into the territory of rich countries were able to do so because of ruthless exploitation of global South and when it came to actually help (which in long term help them too as viruses don't apparently respect borders), "but won't somebody think of the profits"

In conclusion, waiving patent rights:

- won't get us any more Covid vaccines,

- will deprive the innovators of the revenues for future innovation,

- will benefit the financial institutions that are only interested in the profit.

All of this is blindingly obvious.

All of these are absolute nonsense.

[noemon]

Well said @fuser

Reality is reality. No excuse for not having stripped the pharmas of the C-19 vaccine patents already.

Not only have they fucked up distribution, but we have also paid for the vaccines developed as well.

[Heisenberg]

"but won't somebody think of the profits"

You don't understand, fuser. Profiteering is when generic manufacturers produce vaccines, driving down prices due to simple supply and demand. On the other hand, specifically protecting the profits of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna with exclusive contracts, and then stockpiling doses to sell on later at an enormous markup, is precisely the opposite.

Besides, if someone doesn't stick up for these plucky little multinational pharmaceutical companies, you know who wins? The banks. Because everyone knows that the pharmaceutical industry is the last bastion in the struggle against the finance industry.

And this is why developing countries can't be allowed vaccines. It just wouldn't be cricket.

[Atlantis]

@fuser, The Serum Institute is one of the most experienced vaccine manufacturers worldwide. Still it has taken at least 8 months for the company to start producing.

Most companies don't have that experience. Even if they do, the raw materials and equipment required for manufacturing are in short supply, partly because of the US export ban.

India’s vaccine giant Serum Institute warns of supply hit from US raw materials export ban

Everybody wants the same materials now, just like everybody wants the vaccines, which were never produced on a mass scale before, and everybody wants them now. We'll all have to wait our turn.

Even AstraZeneca, which had the original license from Oxford cut supplies to the EU by 60% because it failed to produce as promised nearly 12 months after it was charged with the production. The company was chosen for political reasons. That's why it's been a total shit show all along.

Production of the new vaccines is a highly complicated process. All companies capable of contributing are already involved. Much of the work is quality control. Counterfeit vaccines could kill more than Covid and totally undermine confidence in vaccines.

New COVID Vaccines Need Absurd Amounts of Material and Labor

Without the investment in the Covid vaccines by the rich countries there wouldn't be any vaccines just like there are no vaccines for many tropical diseases even after decades. Poorer countries will benefit since they'll get the vaccines at a reduced price or even free of charge.

There will be about 8 billion Covid vaccines produced in the West this year, add another 5 to 10 billion from India, China and Russia, there will be more than enough to vaccinate the entire world population.

While the US and the UK don't export any vaccines before they haven't vaccinated their entire population, Europe is already now exporting about 50% of its vaccine even though it suffers a shortage due to US and UK companies. The EU has also initiated the Covax program to provide billions of vaccines to poor countries by a donor's conference in May last year, which was boycotted by the Trump administration, China and Russia.

Everything I said is based in facts, while you don't have any arguments and you ignore the facts. What's most stunning is that you are incapable of comprehending simple facts presented to you.

[Patrickov]

To me (and my families and contemporaries) the vaccines are being rolled out too hastily and not thoroughly tested.

In Hong Kong and South Korea there are significant number of cases of people getting adverse effects from the vaccines, some of them dying. As I said, even one of my relatives got hospitalized for a while.

I actually support the OP's motion that developing countries should receive the vaccines as a top priority, although my reason is different and probably selfish.

That said, even if the vaccine is fully OK I don't mind giving it to poor people first. We have enough ware and precautions to keep ourselves going for a while.

[B0ycey]

I actually support the OP's motion that developing countries should receive the vaccines as a top priority, although my reason is different and probably selfish.

It should be given by age not wealth.

[Pants-of-dog]

@fuser, The Serum Institute is one of the most experienced vaccine manufacturers worldwide. Still it has taken at least 8 months for the company to start producing.

Most companies don't have that experience.

I think most pharmaceutical companies do, actually. Or could easily figure it out in weeks or months.

And companies are just a small part of it. There are also medical labs in universities, disease control centres, and many other institutions.

[Atlantis]

You don't understand, fuser. Profiteering is when generic manufacturers produce vaccines, driving down prices due to simple supply and demand. On the other hand, specifically protecting the profits of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna with exclusive contracts, and then stockpiling doses to sell on later at an enormous markup, is precisely the opposite.

I would laugh if it wasn't so sad. The US is stockpiling tens of millions of vaccines in the name of the America-first doctrine, but the companies are shipping the vaccines as fast as they can because they'll be worthless next year. You keep on making these totally absurd allegations without having any idea about what is really happening.

Generics manufacturers like the Serum Institutes of India are profiting because, without investing in innovation, they can ask the highest price they are able to get from poor countries. The rich countries which funded the vaccine development actually drove the price down by purchasing large amounts and by paying up front.

I think most pharmaceutical companies do, actually. Or could easily figure it out in weeks or months.

You keep on making these unfounded allegations without a shred of evidence. Everybody, who knows the slightest bit about the Covid vaccines, knows that the Vector vaccines and the mRNA vaccines have never been produced on a large scale. The technology is totally different.

I gave you the example of Biontech, one of the very few companies company that has developed the mRNA technology. Other companies will take much longer even if the raw materials were available, which they aren't. There are only about four manufacturers of specialized chemicals for the lipid nanoparticles which produced a few kg a year. They started increasing productions, but it all takes time.

As Moderna and the partnership of Pfizer and BioNTech struggle to respond to huge demand for their messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, suppliers of the specialty lipids needed to deliver the vaccines are scrambling to keep up, and one new firm is entering the business.

Lipids are an unsung component in the two mRNA-based shots, the only vaccines to be approved so far in the US. Naked mRNA quickly degrades in the body, and can trigger an unwanted immune reaction. To get the genetic material to its target cells, vaccine developers combine it with a mixture of several sophisticated lipids to form lipid nanoparticles, or LNPs.

Very few companies in the world supply these custom lipids in significant quantities and to the standards needed for vaccine production. On Feb. 5, one of them, the German firm Merck KGaA, announced that it will “significantly accelerate the supply of urgently needed lipids” for BioNTech to use in producing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.as made this story and all of its

Merck said it has been “working hard” in recent weeks to expand its lipid capacity by further improving production technologies and implementing new process steps. It expects to increase lipid shipments toward the end of 2021. Although Pfizer is so far the main producer of the partners’ vaccine, BioNTech is starting to make it in a facility in Marburg, Germany, that it recently acquired from Novartis.

And on Feb. 11, Evonik Industries said it will begin lipid production at two sites in Germany, also as part of a partnership with BioNTech. The chemical company, a newcomer to large-scale specialty lipid manufacturing, expects to be making commercial quantities as early as the second half of 2021.

Other companies are likewise rapidly scaling up. Croda, a British specialty chemical firm, is increasing production in Alabama at its subsidiary Avanti Polar Lipids to supply Pfizer. And the German pharmaceutical services firm CordenPharma has been investing in Switzerland, France, and Colorado, to supply lipids for Moderna’s vaccine under an agreement announced in May.

mRNA vaccine producers use a package of 4 lipids to formulate their LNPs: An ionizable cationic lipid that encapsulates the negatively charged mRNA; a PEGylated lipid that helps control particle life and size; distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC), a phospholipid that helps form the structure of the LNP; and cholesterol, which also contributes to structure.
The cationic lipid is the most important of the four, and the most complex to produce. Matthieu Giraud, global director of CordenPharma’s peptides, lipids, and carbohydrates business, says the synthesis requires about 10 steps and several product isolations. A complete manufacturing campaign is measured in months.

To meet soaring demand for this and the other lipids, CordenPharma executives realized they needed to supplement their primary lipids site in Switzerland and start production at a facility in Chenôve, France. The firm also transferred lipid purification to its facility in Boulder, Colorado, which is home to its largest purification column, and is usually used for peptides. And it embarked on process-optimization projects at each site, Giraud says.
In addition, the company firmed up its raw material supply chain, ensuring it has dual sourcing for all key raw materials. And it enlisted the help of a sister company, WeylChem, to produce some raw materials internally. In all, CordenPharma went through multiple waves of hiring, investment, and expansion as Moderna’s lipid requirements increased since last May, Giraud says.

These projects are just now beginning to bear fruit. “We started this month to kick off the next level that’s expected by Moderna,” Giraud says. Overall, CordenPharma has increased its lipid production for Moderna more than 50-fold, he adds, and more increases are possible depending on the vaccine firm’s future needs.

Although Evonik is new to lipid production, it has been formulating LNPs since 2016 when it acquired the Canadian firm Transferra Nanosciences. It can produce encapsulated mRNA there for the early phases of clinical testing and make commercial quantities at its site in Birmingham, Alabama. Last year the company entered the cholesterol business with the purchase of Wilshire Technologies.

Now, says Stefan Randl, vice president of R&D for Evonik’s health-care business, Evonik will add production at plants in Hanau and Dossenheim, Germany, for the two most important lipids needed to make LNPs: cationic and PEGylated lipids. The fourth lipid, DSPC, is less critical, Randl says, and can be purchased from other firms.
Both Giraud and Randl say the efforts by their companies to meet the lipid needs of their vaccine customers have been unprecedented.

Giraud says CordenPharma brought together a team of more than 50 employees across multiple locations. “We really have now a good concept to meet demand from Moderna,” he says. And CordenPharma is prepared to supply other COVID-19 vaccine developers that require lipid-based delivery systems.

Similarly, Randl sees his firm’s investment extending beyond vaccines to serve developers of next-generation mRNA-based medicines such as cancer immunotherapies, gene-editing therapeutics, and protein-replacement therapy. “We really believe this mRNA trend is there to last,” he says.

The lipids are only one stage in a very complicated production process. Highly specialized chemical plants may be set up to do some of these steps. The production and supply chains for the vaccines we get now were set up last year. New production facilities will start producing next year. By then, the current producers will have produced 10 to 15 billion doses already and the surplus will be for the junk heap.

You keep on making sweeping allegations about things you obviously don't understand.

[Pants-of-dog]

You keep on making these unfounded allegations without a shred of evidence.

Now that you mention it, it is true that you have provided no evidence.

Maybe you should.

Everybody, who knows the slightest bit about the Covid vaccines, knows that the Vector vaccines and the mRNA vaccines have never been produced on a large scale. The technology is totally different.

I gave you the example of Biontech, one of the very few companies company that has developed the mRNA technology. Other companies will take much longer even if the raw materials were available, which they aren't. There are only about four manufacturers of specialized chemicals for the lipid nanoparticles which produced a few kg a year. They started increasing productions, but it all takes time.

The lipids are only one stage in a very complicated production process. Highly specialized chemical plants may be set up to do some of these steps. The production and supply chains for the vaccines we get now were set up last year. New production facilities will start producing next year. By then, the current producers will have produced 10 to 15 billion doses already and the surplus will be for the junk heap.

You keep on making sweeping allegations about things you obviously don't understand.

Well, other labs around the world can also buy lipids. Not just European companies. So none of this supports your claim that labs in developing countries are incapable of making vaccines.

[Heisenberg]

You keep on making these totally absurd allegations without having any idea about what is really happening.

Dude, you keep simping for giant, enormously profitable pharma companies - some of the biggest fucking ghouls of the entire capitalist system - purely because one of the companies involved is German. It's so blatantly obvious to everyone else, which is why we aren't taking your talking points seriously.

Take BioNTech out of the equation and I guarantee your position would be that the evil Anglo-American pharma giants should be stripped of their IP for denying vaccines to the developing world. You know it, I know it, the entire forum knows it.