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Slack.com slash DHQ. Hi everybody, I'm John Donbann and this is Intelligent Squared US. And

I am here with two guests who will be debating and especially timely question on which they

have both studied a lot and yet really truly disagree on. The setting for this question

is the time that we're in right now, a time when vaccines against COVID-19 have been

successfully created. It has happened in record time and their rollout in places like the

US and Europe is finally underway. In other words, in the rich countries, but it's also a

time when vaccination in poorer countries is lagging way behind. And the question we're

debating is whether companies that develop these vaccines should keep the soul right to manufacture

and thus profit from those vaccines according to the tradition of patent protection or whether

in this time of crisis, we should be suspending those patent protections and letting any manufacturer

in any country produce them. We're going to hear opening thoughts from both of our speakers

and then we're going to have a freewheeling conversation on the arguments. So let's get

started. First, Thomas Cuny, you will be arguing yes to this question that vaccine should

be protected by patent law in this moment. You are Director General of the International

Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations. You're working right in the

middle of it all. Thomas, I just want to say welcome to Intelligence Squared. In a few

minutes, you'll be telling us why you think these patent protections should stay in place

...