Good Day BIO: A conversation with the WTO Director-General

A new bonus episode of the I am BIO Podcast revisits the BIO Digital conversation with WTO Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala—just as discussions on the TRIPS waiver are getting ready to restart in Geneva.   

ICYMI: The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been on a six-week summer holiday but heads back to work on Monday, September 6—and the proposed waiver of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for vaccine technology is expected to be on the agenda. 

We need a “pragmatic solution” that allows developing countries access to things like vaccines while “incentivizing research,” Dr. Okonjo-Iweala told BIO’s Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath during the event. 

(Hey, BIO has an idea: our SHARE Program.) 

“We need to spend money now…to vaccinate the world,” she continued. Vaccinating enough people will cost upwards of $50 billion, but global GDP will rise by $9 trillion as a result, she added.

Beyond vaccines, the biggest challenge is boosting “the relevance of trade” when it comes to solving major global crises like the pandemic and climate change, she explained. Reducing export restrictions, unlocking bottlenecks (such as those in vaccine manufacturing), and integrating and in some cases reintegrating parts of the world into globalization are key.

On another note, how does the WTO view the role of science-driven agriculture and the role it plays in trade? “Finding climate-friendly ways to feed the population—as you say, science-based approaches—are welcome,” said Dr. Okonjo-Iweala.

But ag is notoriously difficult to negotiate—and we need to align science “with culture and taste” globally, she explained. 

For more insights on how the WTO might approach some of these big challenges in the coming months, listen to the whole thing.

More Health Care News: 

Biopharma Dive: What to expect at the FDA's two-day meeting on gene therapy safety
“The meeting, which will be held virtually Thursday and Friday, could help the agency set new guardrails for running gene therapy trials and for monitoring participants afterwards.”

“COVID-19 reaffirmed just how quickly—and decisively—human pathogens can strike,” says Innovature. Now, with help from CRISPR, we can apply what we’ve learned over the past year and a half to “plant pandemics” in food crops, too.

One positive thing to come out of COVID-19: “The very genomic toolkit that has proven effective in mitigating the toll of COVID-19 can prove equally so against the myriad viruses, blights and insect swarms that routinely cause ‘mini-pandemics’ in essential food crops worldwide,” explains Innovature. 

“Of course, crop scientists have long been breeding for disease resistance, hardiness, and higher output. But traditional crop cycle experimentation often progresses slowly and can prove too blunt of an approach.” 

“Gene editing changes everything. If properly mobilized and adequately funded, the method can be just as successful against agricultural diseases as it is now against human coronaviruses.” 

In short, plant pandemics are no match for CRISPR—read why. 

“It’s a precision tool,”said Nobel Laureate and CRISPR pioneer Dr. Jennifer Doudna during BIO Digital. “It speeds up the pace” and gives us a “tool for understanding the genes.” 

Read More: Why we need to prepare for a ‘plant pandemic’

President Biden’s Thursday: Delivering remarks on Hurricane Ida this morning, then participating in a virtual event with rabbis around the country to commemorate the Jewish High Holidays ahead of Rosh Hashanah, which begins Monday. The COVID-19 Response Team will hold a briefing at 3 PM ET.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The House Natural Resources and Oversight Committees will markup budget reconciliation legislation. The Senate remains adjourned until Sept. 13.