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Thursday, May 21, 2020

IPR and Innovation 47, Our Joint Declaration on WHA, May 18

Minimal Government Thinkers is one of 31 independent, non-govt think tanks around the world that signed this declaration, officially launched last Monday, May 18 as officials of the WHO member-states gathered in Geneva for the World Health Assembly.



The seven main advocacies are:

1. Abolish tariffs on medical supplies and medicines
2. Reject export bans on medical supplies
3. Reduce customs red tape
4. Enable the free flow of relevant health data across borders
5. Maintain transparency in collecting and sharing epidemiological data
6. Increase cooperation with other countries to speed up drug approval
7. Support innovation, including intellectual property rights.

Concluding statements:

The IP system is working well in the pandemic. More than 140 experimental coronavirus treatments and vaccines are under development worldwide, including 11 in clinical trials. Lifesciences companies everywhere are searching their patent and molecular reference libraries for promising compounds – all of which owe their existence to the patent system.

There is no evidence that IP rights will pose a barrier to access, as most companies working in this area have stated any new products will be available on a non-profit basis. This is welcome, although it is important as many organisations as possible are incentivised to commit their resources to COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.

Now is not the time to undermine IP rights. They underpin the global medicine innovation ecosystem. Governments should therefore commit to cooperating with the private sector in the quest for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.
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