After 18 months of debate, the World Trade Organization failed to adopt a controversial proposal to waive intellectual property protection for Covid-19 diagnostics and treatments, ending a furious attempt by civil society groups to bolster global access to needed medical products.
The failure was not a surprise. Since the proposal was introduced, the pharmaceutical industry — and several key countries where large drugmakers are headquartered, including the U.K. and Switzerland — successfully fought the effort. By late last week, when a WTO ministerial conference could have voted on the proposal, the lack of consensus among WTO members was a foregone conclusion.
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations hailed the outcome. “Intellectual Property is a critical enabler for the development of medicines and vaccines. It has also given companies the confidence to engage and has enabled more than 177 voluntary collaborations, including technology transfer initiatives on Covid-19 therapeutics alone,” the trade group said in a statement.