Many countries are starting to make serious progress with their vaccination campaigns. But while Western governments have bought up massive supplies of Covid-19 vaccines – Canada, for example, ordered enough vaccines to inoculate its population four times over –, low-income countries are hardly able to administer a first dose. This is a source of concern. Because of the low vaccination rate in many countries, scientists fear that the coronavirus might mutate at such a rapid pace that the efficacy of current vaccines could drop dramatically. A global problem that requires a global response.

In an attempt to help low-income countries, the US recently voiced its support for a temporary waiver of patent rights for COVID-19 vaccines. The idea is that this would lead to more access to vaccines and increased production capacities. Rudi Bekkers, professor of Standardisation and Intellectual Property at TU/e, isn’t convinced however that waiving intellectual property protections is the best way to solve this global issue. “This is a complex problem. It’s a justifiable idea, naturally. The vaccines were developed partly with public money, pharmaceutical companies use knowledge acquired via scientific research and research grants. But a piece of patent text is not nearly enough to successfully solve the problem.”

Bekkers stresses that various Covid-19 vaccines have been put on the market, with different tariffs, and that there simply isn’t one party that holds monopoly on vaccine production. He and his fellow patent expert Paul Wiegmann (assistant professor of Innovation Technology Entrepreneurship and Marketing) believe that the causes of the stagnation of global vaccination rates are to be found elsewhere. Bekkers: “Patent holders already have a strong incentive to produce the highest number of vaccine doses. The demand is unlimited and the price they can insist on is attractive. When their own production capacity is limited, they can have other parties produce these vaccines for them. Commissioned or licensed, as long as these other parties can also produce on a large-scale and in a safe manner. But still, this doesn’t happen. This proves that there might be another problem.”

Wiegmann too says that a patent alone isn’t enough to scale up production capacity. “Knowledge and skill are very important, and this is something that needs to be developed in poorer countries as well. We as a society want to ensure safe vaccines, technical legislation and various standards for a high production standard. It’s important that we find a proper balance between quality and a fast commercialization – we’re in the middle of a pandemic after all.”