Third-Way Proposals from Big Pharma and the WTO are the Same-Old Way – Commercial Control of Supply, Price, and Distribution

Date: 20 April 2021
Campaigns: Pharma

People’s Vaccine Policy Brief

A growing chorus of voices worldwide is demanding the lifting of intellectual property restrictions on Covid-19 vaccines and technologies and open technology transfer to enable global access. In response the pharmaceutical industry, the WTO and other actors like the Gates Foundation are promoting a ‘third way’ where industry retains total control of supply, price and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and other health technologies. This is in fact nothing new and is a continuation of the same failed system. This paper gives a clear critique of this proposed solution, and the urgent need to take back control over vaccine production and distribution. It outlines the arguments instead for government-led, open technology transfer and equitable access.