S1E75 / Vaccinating the World Part I: The Problem with Patents / Chris Morten, Prithi Krishtel, Rohit Malpani

EPIDEMIC with Dr. Celine Gounder

KFF Health News and Just Human Productions

Society & Culture, #Eradication, Medicine, #Covid, Science, Life Sciences, #Sarscov2, Documentary, #Coronavirus, #Covid19, Health & Fitness, #Smallpox

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2021

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"It's a triumph of science and engineering that we now have multiple effective COVID vaccines. We just need to find the political will to invest a bit more money and deploy them around the world." -Chris Morten President Joe Biden said the United States would be the world's "arsenal of vaccines" but critics say current plans to donate 80 million doses around the world are not enough. Instead, countries like India and South Africa are calling for a waiver on vaccine patents so they can make their own. In this episode we’re going to look at the controversy around patent protections for vaccines during the pandemic and what the U.S. government could do to improve access to vaccines around the world. We'll hear what tools the U.S. government has to pressure companies to share their vaccine tech and learn about some ideas on how the patent system could be re-imagined to ensure life-saving technology is more equitably distributed. This podcast was created by Just Human Productions. We're powered and distributed by Simplecast. We're supported, in part, by listeners like you. #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #COVID #coronavirus

Transcript

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0:00.0	The problem in this pandemic is the knowledge is being hoarded by only a few countries
0:15.0	and not being shared.
0:16.0	It's a triumph of science and engineering that we now have multiple effective COVID vaccines.
0:21.0	We just need to find a political will to invest a bit more money and deploy them around the world
0:26.0	and we can actually take this virus out.
0:29.0	You're listening to Epidemic, the podcast about the science, public health and social impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
0:45.0	I'm your host, Dr. Salid Gounder.
0:59.0	Patents have been an important driver of scientific discovery, invention, and economic growth ever since the United States was founded.
1:11.0	The Patent and Trade Office is even listed in Article 1 of the Constitution.
1:15.0	Patents are designed really to create monopolies and knowledge.
1:20.0	This is Christopher Morton. He's the Deputy Director of the Technology Law and Policy Clinic at NYU's Law School.
1:26.0	They're limited in time, they only last 20 years, so you don't get to keep your invention proprietary forever.
1:31.0	But for some fixed amount of time, you get a legal right to prevent others from using your invention without your permission.
1:38.0	Christopher recently co-authored a report about one very important patent.
1:44.0	What is US patent number 1096070?
1:51.0	I guess you guys generally call it patent 070. What is this?
1:56.0	So this particular patent, I think, is tremendously important.
2:01.0	Now, what exactly is the patent for? My understanding is it has something to do with stabilizing the spike protein, but if you could explain that to us.
2:09.0	The patent, the 070 patent, is entitled Prefusion coronavirus spike proteins and their use, which, as you say, gives you a clue.
2:16.0	At this point, we've all heard the phrase spike protein more than we'd like, but here it is again.
2:22.0	The spike protein is what the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to latch onto and infect our cells.
2:28.0	The problem with naturally occurring coronavirus spike proteins is that when you isolate them, they tend not to spend much time in the particular confirmation, particular shape that invades human cells and that best sparks immune response.
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