INDIA VACCINE WOES –

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS UNDER TRIPS- PATENT ACT

The global pandemic has taken the world by storm, and we have seen fire fighting of the situation all along the year 2020 and year 2021 irrespective of the nations Health system on global index. Be it US or ITALY including most of European countries or any other ASIAN countries. the humanity was not prepared for it or rather i would say it was underestimated before it took the whole World under its grip.NOW after a year passed by, most of the nations have shifted their priorities to strengthen the respective HEALTH CARE and when most of the countries have secured the vaccines accordance to their needs, there are lot of countries still looking in for the solution to secure vaccines for their population.

The second wave has hit INDIA hard and the infections is all spread throughout the urban and rural sectors, having limited access to medical facilities ,INDIA has been fighting the spread hard and have been undergoing the shortage of the MEDICAL OXYGEN, different Medicines and even ICU beds. However things are looking in control after the peak of second wave almost passed most of the highly populated states. While seeing the numbers decline the only hope to secure its people from the third wave –which is warned by multiple agencies to be more deadly-is to vaccinate the people at large, this is possible only with more numbers of vaccines vials available.

Though the government has allowed the states to import the vaccines by floating the global tenders and make it available to public at large, but can it be developed in INDIA, the answer is yes –YES it can be manufactured in INDIA beyond the two existing pharmaceutical manufacturers that is BHARAT BIOTECH producing COVAXIN and SERUM INSTITUTE producing COVISHIELD.

This can be done in the same way like they are doing it under the patent law of the primary developers, even SPUTNIK V is being done in INDIA with Dr. REDDY’s lab. To understand this better we need to understand the governing laws under the WTO TRIPS agreement.

What does WTO laws governing the pharmaceutical PATENT regulations says –

In accordance to the Pharmaceuticals PATENT and the TRIPS [Trade related aspects of intellectual property rights] agreement.

Both the product and the process are patented, in field of technology without discrimination where those inventions meet the standard substantive criteria for patentability.

Under the TRIPS agreement the patent owner can definitely give the rights to the manufacturer, of the process or the product and can protect the commercials …..so why doesn’t the Govt. act fast and raise many more manufacturing units, what serum institute is doing for ASTRA GENECA or DRL doing for SOUTNIK V is the same.

Most of us are unknown to the fact that even the patent owner can protect the right from being used as further development, means it defines clearly the protection from anti competitive practices and provide more flexible conditions for grant of compulsory licenses where the practice can be laid under due process of law to be anti competitive.

The more remarkable point here is, the agreement also allows member countries to authorize use of third parties [compulsory license] or public non commercial purpose [government use] without the authorization of the patent owner.

With all these available resources some concrete measures can be initiated at right time to ensure the availability to all within mean time frame , however the best jurisdiction is of the think tank with the GOVT mechanism.

The purpose of this note is to describe those provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) that relate to the standards of patent protection to be accorded to inventions in the area of pharmaceuticals.