Merck renounces intellectual property rights... Support for low-income countries 'welcome'
http://www.obsnews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1331736
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Hello everyone.
American pharmaceutical company Merck has decided to relinquish its intellectual property rights for its edible treatment for COVID-19.
The international community is greatly welcomed, saying that a path has been opened for even poor countries to make generic drugs.
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Merck, which developed an edible COVID-19 treatment, announced that it would give up its intellectual property rights, or patents.
They agreed to allow other pharmaceutical companies to make generic drugs.
In this regard, foreign media reported that Merck has reached an agreement on the use of patents for 'The Medicine Patent Pool' and 'Molnupiravir', a medical organization.
105 low-income countries can make or use generic drugs without worrying about patents, including all African countries.
In particular, Merck has decided not to receive royalties as long as the World Health Organization (WHO) deems COVID-19 a global emergency.
Currently, Molnupiravir is being reviewed for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.
[Dr. Marco Cavaleri / Head of Biological Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy, EMA: And We expect a companion review for molnupiravir to begin next week.]
As such, when Merck voluntarily gave up its intellectual property rights, voices of welcome from the international community continued.
The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed it in a statement saying, "It is now possible to manufacture and supply cheap medicines all over the world."
As Merck relinquishes its intellectual property rights, the demand for waiver of intellectual property rights from vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer and Moderna is expected to grow.
In the midst of this, Moderna is attracting attention by revealing that people over the age of 50 will need to receive the vaccine booster shot every year.
[Stephane Bansel / Moderna CEO: From 2023 onwards, everyone over 50 will be able to see a world that needs boosting every year. Because it is a population with a high hospitalization rate and a much higher death rate.]
The foreign press, however, expected controversy over Moderna's claims, saying that many experts were not convinced about the widespread need for booster vaccination.