Partner Up to Speed Global Vaccine Production
April 16, 2021
More than 160 former government leaders and Nobel Prize winners are calling for President Biden to back a temporary waiver of intellectual property rules for COVID-19 vaccines and drugs. They say this would boost manufacturing and speed immunizations and treatments in poorer countries. But in an Issues online exclusive, Ken Shadlen argues that relaxing patents might not achieve more equitable global access. For particularly complex pharmaceutical products—such as vaccines—where speed and quality are essential, he favors manufacturing partnerships to aid the transfer of knowledge and technology more quickly and safely.