INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, VOLUNTARY LICENSING
AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
COMMUNICATION
FROM the UNITED KINGDOM
The
following communication, dated 14 July 2023, is being circulated at the request
of the United Kingdom.
_______________
1 INTRODUCTION
1. The COVID-19 pandemic's health,
economic, and social impacts continue to be felt, particularly in developing
and least developed countries, three years on from the World Health
Organisation's announcement of a public health emergency of international
concern (PHEIC).[1] The pandemic has
highlighted longstanding debates, particularly those concerning equitable
access to health products and technologies, and the role of the multilateral
trading system, including the TRIPS Agreement, to achieve equitable access.
2. The World Trade Organisation
(WTO) has been a forum for extensive discussion on the pandemic response,
particularly within the TRIPS Council. Here, Members continue to examine the
role of intellectual property (IP) and access to COVID-19 health products and
technologies. While positions diverge, Members share the objective of improving
equitable access for all to products, both now and in the future.
3. In the context of the pandemic's
continued impacts, there is a need to reflect on both successes and
shortcomings of the global pandemic response and make meaningful progress
towards collective future pandemic preparedness. In particular, the pandemic
illustrated a growing need to identify how trade can help facilitate voluntary
licensing and/or technology transfer partnerships as part of collective efforts
to address pandemic preparedness and equitable access concerns. The
cross-cutting nature of the topic requires involvement from various
stakeholders and careful consideration of the needs of developing countries and
least-developed countries.
4. A key outcome of the pandemic
response has been the establishment of many new voluntary licensing and/or
technology transfer partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and generic
manufacturers for COVID-19 health products and technologies. The WIPO Patent
Landscape reports on COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics[2],[3] highlight the
diversity and range of the successful collaborations seen globally during the
pandemic. Examples include, but are not limited to, collaborations like
AstraZeneca, Oxford University, and the Serum Institute of India;
Pfizer-BioNTech; as well as partnerships via the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP)
for COVID-19 therapeutics.
5. The United Kingdom has long
championed use of voluntary licensing and technology transfer, as have other
Members. These partnerships not only contributed to the rapid scaling up of
production for essential COVID-19 products, helping improve access, including
pricing, and availability, but also represent the importance of international
collaboration during times of a PHEIC.
6. While these partnerships have
clearly made a successful contribution to expanding access to COVID-19
products, there has been criticism of their not being a silver bullet,
primarily due to not all manufacturers being able to secure voluntary licensing
and/or technology transfer partnerships. We must also acknowledge the growing
discourse and ideas on the role of trade and technology transfer taking place
within the WTO from other Members and the need for a pragmatic way forward.