corona virus
The world needs a 'people's vaccine' for coronavirus, not a big-pharma monopoly
AstraZeneca and others should not own a lucrative patent on a medicine that is needed by poor as well as rich nations
To bring an end to the pandemic, the world needs a vaccine. Promising early trial results for the vaccine developed by Oxford University suggest we’re inching closer to discovering one.
Oxford offers best hope for Covid-19 vaccine this year, MPs told
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Data published recently in the Lancet shows the Oxford vaccine produced antibodies and T-cells in roughly 1,000 patients. The pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, has been licensed to produce this vaccine by early 2021, which includes an agreement to produce 1 billion doses with the Serum Institute in India for low- and middle-income countries by the end of that year.
But this is still a long way from what is needed. To vaccinate everyone, the world needs as many as 7.8bn doses, as quickly as possible. If the successful vaccine requires more than one dose, or must be given annually, as seems likely, the figure will be higher still. The world will need a near-permanent supply of the vaccine. Only then can we bring Covid-19 under control.
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Once a safe and effective vaccine is discovered, the only barrier to providing sufficient doses should be the world’s manufacturing capacity. But other artificial barriers stand in the way. The intellectual property laws that grant pharmaceutical companies the exclusive rights to produce a particular medicine for a certain number of years are intended to reward investment and innovation into new medicines. These intellectual property rights are often abused and create monopolies, and in the case of the Covid-19 vaccine they threaten to limit the supply, causing deadly shortages and unnecessary delays.
guardian
AstraZeneca and others should not own a lucrative patent on a medicine that is needed by poor as well as rich nations
To bring an end to the pandemic, the world needs a vaccine. Promising early trial results for the vaccine developed by Oxford University suggest we’re inching closer to discovering one.
Oxford offers best hope for Covid-19 vaccine this year, MPs told
Read more
Data published recently in the Lancet shows the Oxford vaccine produced antibodies and T-cells in roughly 1,000 patients. The pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, has been licensed to produce this vaccine by early 2021, which includes an agreement to produce 1 billion doses with the Serum Institute in India for low- and middle-income countries by the end of that year.
But this is still a long way from what is needed. To vaccinate everyone, the world needs as many as 7.8bn doses, as quickly as possible. If the successful vaccine requires more than one dose, or must be given annually, as seems likely, the figure will be higher still. The world will need a near-permanent supply of the vaccine. Only then can we bring Covid-19 under control.
Advertisement
Once a safe and effective vaccine is discovered, the only barrier to providing sufficient doses should be the world’s manufacturing capacity. But other artificial barriers stand in the way. The intellectual property laws that grant pharmaceutical companies the exclusive rights to produce a particular medicine for a certain number of years are intended to reward investment and innovation into new medicines. These intellectual property rights are often abused and create monopolies, and in the case of the Covid-19 vaccine they threaten to limit the supply, causing deadly shortages and unnecessary delays.
guardian
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