This is an interesting WTO staff working paper by Ting-Wei (Alex) Chiang and Xiaoping Wu of the Intellectual Property Division

It's complicated, but that's the nature of #COVID19 vaccines and vaccine patents

Direct link to the paper: wto.org/english/res_e/…

Some takeaways

1/6
The paper looks at the different types of vaccine technology and their "patent families" (patent applications for the same or similar technical content), evolution, distribution of inventions and patents globally, types of companies involved, and more

2/6 wto.org/english/res_e/…
• Vaccine types vary in the number of patent families involved. Viral vector (AstraZeneca etc) and mRNA (Pfizer, Moderna, etc) have more

• Private firms dominate, SMEs contributing most, public labs do basic science research

• Earlier years count

3/6 wto.org/english/res_e/…
• First patents tend to be in the US and EU. Subsequent patent filings in other countries, mostly top innovating economies.

• The legal status of the studied patents varies internationally. The status in most developing countries is not known

4/6 wto.org/english/res_e/…
There is no "international patent" or no single patent for any single vaccine: they have multiple patent families.

Understanding this is necessary for intellectual property policies and how it might block production.

5/6 wto.org/english/res_e/…
The data on patents is from the @MedsPatentPool VaxPal database medicinespatentpool.org/what-we-do/vax…

Here's one of the many colourful graphics in the paper

6/6 wto.org/english/res_e/…

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More from @CoppetainPU

Feb 3
The 🇪🇺 Commission says this is the first Sri Lankan 🇱🇰 geographical indication to be registered in the EU.

For those of us with long memories, it's more than that.

Back in 2005-2006 Sri Lanka complained its exports to the EU were blocked.

Details: spsims.wto.org/en/SpecificTra…

1/3
Sri Lanka raised this in the WTO committee on food safety and animal/plant health (SPS) in 2005–2006.

🇱🇰 complained that EU rules on sulphur dioxide were inconsistent ⬇️, preventing imports of its cinnamon.

The EU and @FAOWHOCodex were sympathetic.

2/3 wto.org/english/news_e… Image
By late 2006, the issue was resolved.

15 years later Sri Lanka has a protected geographical indication for its cinnamon in the EU

WTO processes may be slow, but sometimes they produce results.

3/3 wto.org/english/news_e… Image
Read 4 tweets
Jan 26
The situation in Switzerland will determine whether/when an in-person WTO Ministerial Conference can be scheduled.

What is the situation in 🇨🇭?

1/6
1. Case numbers continue to rise, but hospitalisations and deaths seem to have peaked and are a bit lower in 🇨🇭.

2/6 covid19.admin.ch/en/overview?ti…
2. Omicron is now almost 90% of cases detected in 🇨🇭. Does that partly explain why cases are still rising but hospitalisations and deaths have eased?

The vaccination rates are not great—68% with two doses, 38% boosted. Much better among over-65s.

3/6 covid19.admin.ch/en/overview?ti…
Read 6 tweets
Jan 26
Starting today: six “plurilateral” meetings in the WTO spread over two weeks

Plurilaterals = meetings/agreements among only part of the WTO’s membership

Some: also called joint-statement initiatives (JI⬇️)

Seen as the way ahead, but controversial

1/7 wto.org/english/news_e…
Today (Jan 26), tomorrow (Jan 27) and Tuesday (Feb 1)—Plurilateral on investment facilitation for development

(Why suddenly the need to call WTO discussions “structured”? Are any unstructured?)

2/7 tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/17-…
Today (Jan 26), tomorrow (Jan 27) and Tuesday (Feb 1)—Plurilateral on investment facilitation for development

Here’s the agenda for today and tomorrow

3/7
Read 7 tweets
Jan 25
TODAY: informal WTO General Council meeting, mainly on procedure

PURPOSE: chair @CastilloDacio reporting to the full membership on his consultations, Jan 18-19

TOPICS:
• If/when to hold the postponed ministerial conference
• WTO response to the pandemic
• How to proceed

1/6
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE NEW DATE?

Few keen on “virtual” meeting

DG @NOIweala: Secretariat looking at 3 options

1. Hold soon—no ceremony, businesslike, slimmed down
2. Medium (eg summer) possible
3. Long term, can prepare for it

Swiss amb. said COVID-19 in 🇨🇭 unpredictable

2/6
Chair @CastilloDacio said some members proposed a tentative date (“a window”) should be set to focus minds and keep up the momentum; others said that would be premature but members should keep up the momentum.

3/6
Read 7 tweets
Jan 17
Some thoughts on financing the BBC

How to assess the options—Licence fee? From tax? Subscription? Advertising?)

• business model only (“if it’s such value for money it can easily sell subscriptions”)
• public service (society as a whole benefiting)

Finance➡️Economics…

1/15
A couple of key concepts

• ECONOMIES OF SCALE. Eg news—from Radio Stoke to Westminster to BBC Washington Bureau to Pashtu Service (Afghanistan), reporters feed a central newsroom supplying multiple BBC outlets. Similar sharing in arts, music, documentaries, sport, more …

2/15
• EXTERNALITIES (positive), the public service dimension—when something (broadcasting) has a broader benefit than simply between the producer and consumer (more than just the viewer enjoying Newsnight or East Enders)

3/15 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externali…
Read 15 tweets

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