<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">New talking points from GTW…<div class=""><br class=""><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a name="_Hlk72186979" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">TALKING POINTS: GETTING A TRIPS WAIVER ENACTED AND MORE COVID VACCINES, TESTS AND TREATMENT PRODUCED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO END THE PANDEMIC <o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></a></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></u></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><u class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Commending the Biden Administration’s Support for the TRIPS Waiver<o:p class=""></o:p></span></u></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. USTR Katherine Tai </span><a href="https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2021/may/statement-ambassador-katherine-tai-covid-19-trips-waiver" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">said that</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">when she put the U.S. on the right side of history by announcing support for the temporary COVID-19 emergency waiver of some WTO intellectual property monopolies so we can end the pandemic’s death and economic devastation as speedily as possible.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The Biden-Harris administration is to be commended and thanked for reversing Donald Trump’s self-defeating blockage of WTO negotiations for a temporary, emergency COVID-19 waiver of pharmaceutical monopolies under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS).<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The Biden-Harris administration’s support for a temporary waiver of WTO intellectual property barriers to help save the world from the COVID-19 pandemic signals that the U.S. is back as a global leader.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Keeping Americans safe from COVID-19 and revitalizing the American economy to build back better relies on people worldwide having access to COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments as quickly as possible. The temporary WTO waiver is an important part of that mission.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><u class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Ongoing Work Needed to Enact a Comprehensive TRIPS Waiver Agreement as Soon as Possible <o:p class=""></o:p></span></u></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">To ensure the speediest end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government must secure swift adoption of a temporary waiver of the patent, copyright, industrial design and undisclosed data rules of the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement with respect to vaccines, treatments, diagnostic tests and other medical products to prevent, contain or treat COVID-19 and the inputs and equipment to make such medical products.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="square" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The U.S. government must use all diplomatic efforts to convince waiver-opposing WTO member countries to engage in text-based negotiations and agree on a timely and effective waiver.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="square" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The scope of the waiver must extend beyond vaccines to also cover the diagnostic tests needed to detect outbreaks and variants, and treatments, ventilators and other medical goods necessary to save the lives of the millions who will contract COVID-19 before sufficient vaccines doses can be made.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="square" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">A waiver must be of sufficient duration to incentivize and sustain increases in manufacturing capacity for and output of medical goods to prevent, contain or treat COVID-19, taking into consideration that the pandemic may yet escape current vaccines.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="square" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The WTO Director General’s December 2021 deadline for a final waiver text is far too late to meet the urgency of the pandemic, which requires agreement on a waiver in a matter of weeks, not months.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><u class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Investment in Manufacturing Is Also Needed to Get the Most Out of a Waiver and End the Pandemic <o:p class=""></o:p></span></u></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">To most quickly translate enactment of a temporary COVID-19 emergency TRIPS waiver into billions of vaccine shots in arms, the U.S. government must deploy tools to rapidly promote technology transfer and know-how sharing, including funding incentives to provide reasonable compensation to intellectual property rightsholders, taking into account previous taxpayer investments in research and development, and leveraging existing legal authorities, including the </span><a href="https://lpeproject.org/blog/how-to-vaccinate-the-world-part-2/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Defense Production Act and the Bayh-Dole Act</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">To protect U.S. health, economic recovery and security, the U.S. should launch an </span><a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/public-citizen-analysis-25-billion-investment-can-vaccinate-the-world/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">ambitious global vaccine manufacturing program</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> to scale up production in the United States and in regional manufacturing centers around the world to produce 8 billion more doses by repurposing existing facilities and building new capacity, including by </span><a href="https://mkus3lurbh3lbztg254fzode-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/Global-vaccine-program-2-pager-Feb-19-2021.pdf" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">allocating $2 billion in funds</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> to capital expenditures to establish additional COVID-19 mRNA vaccine manufacturing lines and providing $23 billion in funding for raw materials, technology transfer and royalty costs to scale up production and shave years from the global pandemic.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">When U.S. taxpayers and global public investment funded the research and development of the COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and medicines, it was not only to find a solution to the pandemic here at home, but also to crush the virus around the world. <o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><u class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is Safe: Need for a Comprehensive TRIPS Waiver so More COVID Vaccines, Test and Treatments Are Produced</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Absent a major increase in vaccines, medicines, diagnostic tests, ventilators, and other COVID-19-related medical supplies, the pandemic will rage largely unmitigated among a significant share of the world’s population, resulting in increased deaths, a dragging blow to the global economy and a risk that vaccine-resistant variants will put the world back on lockdown and evade immunity for those previously infected and/or vaccinated.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Global COVID-19 vaccine production in 2021 reached 1.4 billion doses in May 2021 as the first trimester ended, while </span><a href="https://prospect.org/coronavirus/will-biden-favor-drug-companies-or-billions-of-people-needing-vaccines/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">10-15 billion doses are necessary</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> to meet immediate global needs and maybe more on an ongoing basis if boosters are required or if new vaccines are needed to combat variants.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Current global production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines, medicines, and diagnostic tests cannot come close to meeting global needs to detect, treat, prevent, or contain COVID-19. Many in developing nations will not have access to vaccines until 2024 absent significant increases in vaccine production.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">A major cause of the shortage is vaccine intellectual property rightsholders’ refusal to issue licenses and transfer technology to and negotiate payment terms with qualified manufacturers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, creating production bottlenecks and prohibiting urgently needed production of doses worldwide.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The worst global health crisis in a century has resulted in 3.5 million deaths worldwide and is conservatively estimated to cost the U.S. alone </span><a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/11/what-might-covid-cost-the-u-s-experts-eye-16-trillion/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">$16 trillion</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> in </span><a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/waiver-of-wto-protections-for-big-pharma-will-help-u-s-economic-recovery-and-boost-u-s-employment/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">economic losses</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">, accompanied by yet greater global losses that have impoverished hundreds of millions of people worldwide.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></u></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><u class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Debunking Pharma Lies and Spin <o:p class=""></o:p></span></u></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">At least </span><a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/04/23/covid-vaccine-ip-waiver-lobbying/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">100 Big Pharma lobbyists</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> are swarming Washington to ensure the waiver is not agreed or is gutted of all substance. Pharma spent a record </span><a href="https://truthout.org/articles/pharma-breaks-lobbying-record-defending-high-drug-prices-and-vaccine-patents/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">$92 million</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> on lobbying in the first quarter of 2021 alone. </span><a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/05/14/covid-vaccine-waiver-generic-phrma-lobby/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Leaked PhRMA talking points</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> focus on China fearmongering, phony economic claims, and thinly veiled threats.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">A temporary TRIPS waiver </span><a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/dont-buy-pharmas-latest-distraction-a-temporary-wto-ip-waiver-for-covid-meds-would-not-hand-u-s-mrna-technology-to-china/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">does not</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> give China and Russia “U.S. mRNA technology.” First, mRNA research has been conducted by scientists around the world for decades. For instance, the patents on the “Pfizer vaccine” are held by BioNTech, a German firm founded by Turkish immigrants. And China already has mRNA: BioNTech licensed Chinese firm Fosun Pharma to manufacture “Pfizer-BioNTech” vaccine for sale in China. Chinese firms already have developed two additional mRNA vaccines.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">IP barriers and corporate concentration are</span><a href="https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/why-are-there-shortages-of-plastic" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> squeezing</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> vaccine supply chains and causing input shortages. A temporary TRIPS waiver would help to solve these problems by enabling expanded manufacturing of such goods. Perversely, Pharma has been arguing that supply chain shortages, not intellectual property, are limiting vaccine production. Except now Pharma is arguing that a waiver <i class="">will cause</i> such supply chain shortages. In reality, many input shortages are caused by IP barriers. Consider single-use bioreactor bags for which </span><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/outlook-on-the-single-use-bioreactors-global-market-to-2030---featuring-cytiva-merck-millipore--pall-among-others-301263304.html" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">2,800 patents</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> have been filed or granted. After mergers and concentration, only </span><a href="https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/why-are-there-shortages-of-plastic" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">four firms monopolize</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> the market worldwide and control supply. The waiver must cover inputs and equipment to make COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests to ramp up capacity throughout the supply chain.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Big Pharma has been using qualified manufacturers in developing countries to make vaccines and other medicines for years. Pharma’s racist slander that these firms are not good enough to make COVID-19 medicines or that their vaccines will be unsafe conflicts with the reality that Big Pharma uses these firms as contract manufacturers now. India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer with dozens of facilities that meet global quality standards. Some firms may need capacity enhancements and specific quality control protocols for specific drugs, which are investments worth making to beat COVID-19. <o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">A TRIPS waiver that facilitates additional producers won’t encourage counterfeiters. Brand name drug firms selling cheap-to-produce vaccines at high prices give counterfeiters more than enough incentive to make fake products. Indeed, the entry of new producers that will sell at lower prices to developing nations would discourage counterfeiters since they would have fewer potentially desperate customers and a smaller profit margin for their goods. <o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Existing WTO “flexibilities” for HIV/AIDS treatments that were agreed in 2001 after hard campaigning are </span><a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/waiver-of-the-wtos-intellectual-property-rules-existing-trips-flexibilities-unworkable-for-scale-up-of-covid-19-medicines-production/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">insufficient</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> in the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">COVID</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">-19 context. Pharmaceutical firms have since created IP “thickets,” adding layers of additional copyright, industrial design and other exclusivities to the patent barriers that were the focus of the 2001 flexibilities. Plus, COVID-19 vaccines have complex global supply chains. With various forms of IP barriers limiting access to inputs and production supplies across different countries there are almost insurmountable obstacles to coordinating compulsory licensing across countries even if the existing WTO flexibilities were determined to cover all of the different forms of IP exclusivities involved.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a name="_Hlk70765202" class=""><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></a></div><ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in -0.25in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The vaccine makers stand to </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/06/from-pfizer-to-moderna-whos-making-billions-from-covid-vaccines" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">make a lot of money</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> whether or not there is a waiver. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="square" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Pfizer and Moderna projected COVID-19 vaccine revenue of </span><a href="https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-revenue/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">$26 billion</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> and </span><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/06/covid-moderna-mrna-earnings-q1-2021.html#:~:text=Moderna%20raised%20its%202021%20sales,year%20sales%20of%20%2426%20billion." style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">$19.2 billion</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> respectively in 2021 alone. A WTO waiver would not undermine those earnings but could boost them.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="square" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">A WTO waiver would NOT free governments and firms from paying royalties or providing other compensation under national laws, as the </span><a href="https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/public_health_faq_e.htm" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">WTO’s own explanation</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> of its 2001 HIV/AIDS IP flexibilities decision underscores. Payments for compulsorily licensed technology </span><a href="https://www.mondaq.com/india/patent/616430/fair-remuneration-for-compulsory-licensing" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">usually are based</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> on costs and a </span><a href="https://www.who.int/medicines/areas/technical_cooperation/WHOTCM2005.1_OMS.pdf?ua=1" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">percentage of profit</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></li></ul><div style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><ul type="square" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" class=""><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Vaccine monopoly firms are focused not on global access, but on profitable markets. Pharma’s real concern is losing its current monopoly control of production and thus the prospect of competitors in what it sees as lucrative future sales of COVID-19 boosters in wealthy countries. Consider Pfizer’s </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-execs-highlight-significant-opportunity-hike-covid-vaccine-price-2021-3" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">recent investor briefings</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> about its lucrative 2022 plans to sell annual COVID-19 boosters in wealthy nations at higher prices even as overwhelming majorities in developing countries have no access to an initial vaccine.</span></li></ul><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></body></html>