Devex Checkup: Will WTO see a deal on the TRIPS waiver?

The World Trade Organization’s long-awaited, four-day ministerial conference starts Sunday. High on the agenda is a contentious proposal to waive some intellectual property protections on lifesaving tools in response to COVID-19.

Reporting for Devex, Andrew Green gives us a peek into the drama ahead of the meetings and tries to read the tea leaves on the question we’re all asking: Will there be a deal?

• About 20 months have passed since India and South Africa first proposed the so-called TRIPS waiver for a range of intellectual property protections — including patents, trade secrets, and copyrights — on COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests. Despite receiving overwhelming support from more than 100 countries, that proposal has not yet gotten approval at WTO, which operates by consensus.

• Instead, other proposals have been brought to the table, to the dismay of access advocates. In March, a new version of the waiver was leaked that is limited to just patents on COVID-19 vaccines. The U.K. aims to restrict the waiver to finished products and not the ingredients or tools needed to produce COVID-19 vaccines. The U.S. and other countries also want to exclude China from benefiting from the waiver.

• WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has pressed member states to strike a deal on a waiver by the end of the conference Wednesday. To make sure that happens, she has even called on members to lock themselves into weekend negotiations. But some delegates are finding themselves blocked from attending these meetings.

• With just three days until the ministerial conference begins, it’s unclear if the stalemate will be broken. Access advocates are pushing for the original proposal and calling on governments to not accept anything less. But others, such as delegations from the U.K. and Switzerland, continue to question the need for a waiver at all.

• So what may happen? Lansana Gberie, the ambassador from Sierra Leone, who’s overseeing the negotiations is “cautiously optimistic” on a deal, while Thiru Balasubramaniam from the advocacy group Knowledge Ecology International says, “It looks kind of gloomy.”

Read: Can the WTO meeting finally deliver a TRIPS deal?

Equitable representation

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations — a nonprofit that works to accelerate the development of vaccines for emerging infectious diseases — recently made changes to its board, and more governance changes are expected to follow.

An external review recommended that the organization boost diversity on its Equitable Access Committee, including appointments from civil society and low- and middle-income countries. Francisco Viegas, a medical innovation policy adviser for Médecins Sans Frontières' Access Campaign, said this might help ensure that the global south has a voice in decision-making around access to vaccines.

Read: CEPI external review recommends civil society and LMIC representatives (Pro)

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Close to the finish line

The European Investment Bank recently announced a loan worth €75 million (over $80 million) to the Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal. Our colleague Sara Jerving reports that the money would help fast-track the completion of one of the institute’s new vaccine manufacturing facilities.

At full capacity, the facility is expected to produce up to 300 million doses per year. The aim is to manufacture a range of vaccines, including some aimed at inoculating children against polio and rubella, as well as preparing for an as-yet-unknown “Disease X” in the future. The loan will also support the purchase of laboratories built inside shipping containers that can produce drug substances for the vaccines.

Read: Senegal nears completion of 'bespoke' vaccine manufacturing facility (Pro)

Double the risk

A large study on the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa found that their risk of death was double that of women with COVID-19 who weren’t pregnant. Their risk of death was also five times higher compared with pregnant women without COVID-19.

Researchers hope the study’s findings could lead policymakers to work on increasing vaccination rates — and access to inoculations — among pregnant women. At the moment, only 11 African countries are recommending the COVID-19 vaccine to pregnant women.

Read: Study in African nations finds COVID-19 increased death in pregnancy

One big number

That's the value of potential business opportunities in global health from the U.S. Agency for International Development next quarter. An additional $456.9 million is allocated for HIV and AIDS, with more than half of this funding coming from PEPFAR.

USAID: Business forecast for Q3 2022 (Pro)

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What we’re reading

Children bear the brunt of the health crisis in the Horn of Africa drought. [Devex]

Doctors in England will be legally required to report every suspected case of monkeypox. [The Telegraph]

A public health expert writes that a lack of visa privileges for some nationalities is liable to make global health an even more rarefied and exclusionary space. [Forbes]