As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the globe approaches 4 million, with no clear end to the pandemic insight, Tara Pilkington looks at how pharmaceutical giants may use the situation for financial gain.
With many questions regarding who will have access to coronavirus drugs such as remdesivir, which is being developed by pharmaceutical giant Gilead who has the patent for the drug, it’s important to monitor these companies and expose how they are poised to make massive profits from this pandemic.
It’s critical that right now we look at drugs such as remdesivir and investigate how much they will cost and who will have access to them, as pharmaceutical giants will likely bury treatments in patents, making them unaffordable to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.
While there is every indication that treatments for coronavirus may soon be developed, this does not guarantee that the general public will easily be able to access them. Already we have seen medical monopolies restricting access to coronavirus PPE, for example, health workers don’t have enough N95 respirator masks and have continuously struggled to get access to other vital PPE equipment.
Many countries are now taking pre-emptive measures to deal with monopoly control over medical treatments. The compulsory licensing of patents, a legal process whereby countries can suspend patents on a product, is gaining popularity.
For instance, last month after Chile declared that the pandemic justifies the use of compulsory licensing, many others soon followed. Israel issued compulsory licenses for lopinavir and ritonavir, Canada and Germany amended their patent laws to enable the swift grant of a compulsory licence, and Brazil began the process of amending its patent law to make compulsory licensing easier.
