Hyderabad-based vaccine maker says not including ICMR in original patent application for Covaxin was ‘inadvertent error’ & ‘confidential agreement between them was not accessible’.
G7 diplomats are now echoing the Supreme Court of India — why hasn't the Modi govt granted compulsory licences to pharma companies to at least manufacture anti-Covid drugs if not vaccines.
India along with 61 co-sponsors submitted a revised proposal in May on TRIPS waiver for all WTO members regarding prevention, containment, and treatment of Covid.
Vaccine manufacturers China and Russia never came forward to share the formula with or waive IPR for other BRICS members. So much for the cooperation in the Covid fight.
It is time countries acted with a humanitarian approach at WTO and relaxed IPR provisions for Covid-19 vaccines. And it can be done without disincentivising R&D efforts.
Instead of trying to obtain an IP waiver, the govt must enable vaccine manufacturers to expand production & reduce inefficiencies in procurement & distribution.
India and South Africa have proposed a broad waiver from the Trips agreement’s rules on the production and export of vaccines needed to combat the Covid-19 virus.
US, EU, Canada and other developed nations, with access to Covid-19 vaccines, must stop opposing India and South Africa's proposal to waive patent and intellectual property rights.
Today is the anti-socialist era. Libertarianism is fighting; dedicated with all its power and love of liberty. It does not matter whether it wins in the political sphere, wrote KD Valicha in 1957.
Without a Congress revival, there can be no challenge to the BJP pan-nationally. Modi’s party is growing, and almost entirely at the cost of the Congress.
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