President Biden and his administration’s decision to negotiate a waiver for intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines and other technologies continues to prove illogical and foolhardy. After previously opposing the idea, the Biden administration announced this week that they would engage with the World Trade Organization to recklessly hand over intellectual property developed in response to the Wuhan coronavirus.
Not only is this decision a bad one, it won’t accomplish the feel-good narrative Biden has apparently adopted in search of some kind of moral high ground.
It’s important to understand what information would be made available if the WTO negotiations result in a decision to waive IP protections. As Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, pointed out this week, American innovation is largely responsible for the currently available treatments for COVID-19:
“Nothing better proves the global benefits of strong intellectual property rights than the numerous biopharmaceutical companies who have risen to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
