Peru joins discussion on IP protections for COVID-19 vaccines

By Espinosa Bellido Abogados

The president of Peru, Francisco Sagasti, publicly supported the waiving of intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines, stating that the "unprecedented crisis" represented by the pandemic has highlighted the need to review issues such as IP protections in emergency contexts.

Sagasti advocated for “equitable, timely and transparent" global access to vaccines and other health technologies.

Backed by other countries, South Africa and India presented a proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to waive patents on medical products for COVID-19 until the end of the pandemic. According to the proposal, the COVID-19 outbreak has led to a swift increase in global demand of vaccines with many countries facing acute shortages, constraining the ability to effectively respond to the pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) backs up the initiative and was joined by the United States government, recently submitted to pressure on the matter from Democrats congressmen and women. The US Trade Representative Katherine Tai released a statement announcing the Biden-Harris Administration’s support.

“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines. We will actively participate in text-based negotiations at the WTO needed to make that happen. Those negotiations will take time given the consensus-based nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues involved,” Tai said.  

The waiving of IP protections is opposed by many countries, institutions and the pharmaceutical industry, worried about the legal and economic consequences of such an unprecedented decision.

"We are fully aligned with the goal to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are quickly and equitably shared around the world. But, as we have consistently stated, a waiver is the simple but the wrong answer to what is a complex problem. Waiving patents of COVID-19 vaccines will not increase production nor provide practical solutions needed to battle this global health crisis. On the contrary, it is likely to lead to disruption; while distracting from addressing the real challenges in scaling up production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally: namely elimination of trade barriers, addressing bottlenecks in supply chains and scarcity of raw materials and ingredients in the supply chain, and a willingness by rich countries to start sharing doses with poor countries”, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations said in a press release.