BLOG POST: Promises, Patents, and the Pandemic: Moderna v. Pfizer*
Emily Stark *This Writing is a Blog Post. It is not an official IPTF Article Publication. In 2020, the world desperately needed a vaccine to address the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Three companies: Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, developed and produced vaccines that would allow people to return to their ordinary lives.[2] Two of those companies, Moderna and Pfizer, both used mRNA to develop the platforms for their vaccines.[3] Researchers had been developing mRNA vaccines for years prior to the pandemic.[4] Moderna is responsible for much of the development of the mRNA vaccine technology, and Moderna filed for patents in 2010...
Square Peg in a Round Hole: Manipulating Patent Law to Reduce the Prices of Pharmaceutical Products
Jasmine Daniel Pharmaceutical companies are commonly criticized for charging exorbitantly high prices for their products which can make it difficult for many patients to access life-saving drugs. Competitors, such as generic manufacturers, often cannot manufacture cheaper alternatives to these drugs due to strong patents which protect against product copying. Both the Bayh-Dole Act and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) include provisions which allow competitors to circumvent pharmaceutical patent protection under limited circumstances. Although there are instances in which such circumvention is necessary, ambiguities in these statutes allow countries to bypass pharmaceutical patents and encourage production...