The companies that developed the vaccines and treatments in the covid pandemic provide very real-life, real-time examples of the questions of protecting patents as business assets while answering social responsibility concerns.
As the CEO of one of these companies, how would you respond to calls to share your company’s IP and under what circumstances?
How would a Biblical worldview influence your decisions?
Write a discussion reply pandemic patents part 2
In a time like this it is very interesting to see how people and things are treated. As covid-19 spread our medical scientist in the United States got into action and created multiple different vaccines. Including ones later to fight a more serve version of covid. Now to see how the behind the scenes work does bring to light the real reason for the push of these vaccines. Companies begin to push mass amounts of product to supply not only our country, but others as well to extend their pool of people. Does not mean countries of lower living are receiving these, most likely due to their lower income and not being able to put the upfront cash these companies are looking for. This also includes the revenue they pull in due to the pressure and time management of when and how to push this vaccine out. An article from Gale context stated (Rowland,Rauhala,Berger,2021) “Of the potential 10 billion to 14 billion vaccine doses the industry hopes to produce in 2021 – a range that relies on optimistic projections – more than two-thirds have been claimed by wealthy and middle-income countries, according to a joint report released by the drug industry and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations earlier this month.” Seeing these results are mind blowing. Also in the fact they are not wanting to share information with other companies to compare or contrast their ingredient choices and other data. This also can be perceived as being able to take their recipe and be able to create and make your own, but in reality a lot of us are interested to see what they are actually working with and using to fuel these vaccines. Another part of the article stated quoted by the WHO (Rowland,Rauhala,Berger,2021) “Unfortunately, only limited, exclusive and often non-transparent voluntary licensing is the preferred approach of some companies, and this is proven to be insufficient to address the needs of the current COVID-19 pandemic…The entire population and the global economy are in crisis because of that approach and vaccines nationalism.” It is very interesting that many of these companies do not want to share their data. Like I said earlier I understand from a business persecutive, but it is no different from restaurants having their recipes online that anyone can copy or for any other business for that matter. An article from AP news stated “Moderna has no plans to share the recipe for its COVID-19 vaccine because executives have concluded that scaling up the company’s own production is the best way to increase the global supply, the company’s chairman said Monday.” With this no information hold can only really effect more people trying to get into this vaccine business. As a CEO I would be as transparent as I could be to be able to show our consumers what they are working with and getting into. I have heard a lot of people really nervous or worried about getting the vaccine due to the fact that there is not many sources to say what is actually inside of these vaccines. If companies were a bit more transparent it might have gotten rid of that stigma. In 1 John 1:7 it reads “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” With the influence of God, I would keep transparency help consumers as best as I can.
