The draft has stirred-up an already high-pitched international conversation on IP, leading to the pharma industry and civil society organisations to read the fine print closely. The US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Centre (GIPC), while launching its annual International IP Index report, points to a torrent of proposals (domestic and international) that threaten to “erode” IP rights. The inequitable access to Covid-19 vaccines is illustrative of these fault lines in the international system. “Political headwinds facing the global IP system, including IP waiver proposals at multilateral organisations such as the WHO and WTO, threaten to undo the successes that led to the development of life-saving Covid vaccines and therapies in record times. And as negotiations continue, the pandemic has made it clear, IP is not entirely sacrosanct, he says, especially in public health.

Source: The Hindu March 06, 2023 00:53 UTC