Designing the global vaccine supply chain: balancing intellectual property rights with post COVID-19 vaccine equity

This article aims to propose practical solutions that coordinate the conflicting interests between the global community and the pharmaceutical industry on the intellectual property (IP) waiver for COVID-19 vaccines and facilitate a more equitable vaccine supply chain in the post-COVID-19 world. We c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ global health 2023-11, Vol.8 (11), p.e013669
Main Authors: Park, Sung-Pil, Lee, Hye Jin, Yu, Yang, Lee, Eric Yong Joong, Park, Young Soo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agreements
Analysis
Common law
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - prevention & control
COVID-19 vaccines
COVID-19 Vaccines - supply & distribution
Developed countries
Developing countries
Global health
Health disparities
Health policy
Humans
Intellectual Property
International Cooperation
LDCs
Literature reviews
Pharmaceutical industry
Property rights
Public Health
Review
Social justice
Social sciences
Vaccines
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Summary:This article aims to propose practical solutions that coordinate the conflicting interests between the global community and the pharmaceutical industry on the intellectual property (IP) waiver for COVID-19 vaccines and facilitate a more equitable vaccine supply chain in the post-COVID-19 world. We critically conducted a narrative literature review to identify procedural and practical issues in the current vaccine supply chain. The search was conducted across various academic disciplines, including biomedical science, life science, law and social science, using resources such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Westlaw. After screening 731 articles, 55 studies were selected for review. The narrative review revealed several critical barriers that hinder vaccine supply in less-developed countries (LDCs) as follows: (1) WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) waiver requests may not be granted due to its stringent consensus rule; (2) the current compulsory license system may not work due to the complexity of IP rights covering COVID-19 vaccine technologies; (3) only a few LDCs have domestic companies capable of manufacturing vaccines, and (4) political and economic tensions among countries exacerbate existing barriers to vaccine distribution in LDCs. Based on these findings, we proposed a comprehensive compulsory license system, which combines TRIPS’s compulsory license system with the third-party beneficiary mechanism under Common Law. This integrated approach offers a balanced solution that ensures fair compensation for vaccine developers while facilitating broader vaccine access.
ISSN:2059-7908
2059-7908
DOI:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013669