Pharma groups slam US decision to support COVID-19 vaccine patent waivers

Pharmaceutical industry groups in the US and the EU lambasted a recent decision by the Biden Administration to support a proposal pending in the World Trade Organization (WTO) that would waive intellectual property patents for coronavirus vaccines, charging that the waiver is a bad idea that would compromise vaccine efficacy and safety. Their views clash with World Health Organization’s (WHO) arguments and other groups that the waiver is necessary to increase access to the vaccines in the developing world.