Good Day BIO: Fertilizer is a big story—here’s why

We’re starting a new week focused on fertilizer—here's why it’s such a big story and what biotech has to do with it. ICYMI, an agreement on a TRIPS waiver for vaccine IP was leaked last week, and we have the industry’s take. Plus, the Senate is taking up legislation on China competitiveness. (743 words, 3 minutes, 42 seconds)

Fertilizer is today's big story—here’s why

“Fertilizer prices continue to surge to records as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine puts a massive portion of the world’s fertilizer supply at risk,” reports Bloomberg. Here’s why it matters—and how biotech could help.

What’s happening: “The Green Markets North America Fertilizer Price Index jumped almost 10% Friday to an all-time high,” reports Bloomberg. Russia accounted for one-fifth of 2021 fertilizer exports, and Russia and Belarus combined to supply 15% of the world’s fertilizer (and a ton of grains).

What they’re saying: “This is, perhaps, the biggest story few are paying attention to—and it will have huge consequences later this year,” tweeted Bloomberg’s Javier Blas. “Fertilizer may not be the sexiest commodity market, but it's one of the most important!”

Why it matters: This could lead to a “global food crisis,” says The New York Times—from higher grocery bills in the U.S. to hunger in the nations that depend on Russia and Ukraine for food staples.

What’s biotech got to do with it? A lot, actually—because the industry is already using synthetic biology to make “next-gen fertilizers” as well as gene editing and other tools to allow crops to thrive with lessfertilizer.

The war is a wake-up call—on the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels as well as secure our food supply and other critical commodities. Now, it’s time to support and deploy innovative biotech alternatives to help.

More Agriculture and Environment News:

Smithsonian Magazine: 1.4 million urban trees may fall to invasive insects by 2050
“Hot spots predicted to have the most urban tree mortality were Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; and New York, New York.”

Leaked COVID IP agreement would have ‘chilling impact on investment’

A purported agreement between the U.S., EU, India, and South Africa to waive IP protections for COVID-19 vaccines was leaked last week, we reported—here’s what we know and what the industry’s saying.

What we know so far: The waiver “will apply to any developing country participating in the WTO that exported less than 10% of the world’s COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2021 (i.e., not China or Russia, but India could use it),” explains Endpoints News. Initially, it will cover only vaccine patents, but “WTO members will decide on whether it should be extended to cover diagnostics and therapeutics too.”   

The proposal would “have a chilling impact on investment into the small companies that have been at the heart of the solutions to COVID-19,”says Steve Bates, CEO of the UK Bioindustry Association and Chair of the International Council of Biotechnology Associations (ICBA), which includes BIO. “This proposal directly threatens this innovative ecosystem’s ability to attract the capital needed to develop next generation of vaccines whilst doing nothing to solve the access challenges we have in 2022.”

And it “would jeopardize drug development with respect to other research areas, since drugs and vaccines are protected not only by one patent but by a whole bundle of patents, with individual patents in such a bundle in turn often protecting other drugs and vaccines,” explains BIO Deutschland Chair Oliver Schacht.

The global industry manufactured “over 11 billion doses in 2021,” continues Bates. “Weakening IP rights does nothing to facilitate the distribution of these manufactured vaccines to people around the world who most need them—rather prioritizing addressing healthcare infrastructure and vaccine hesitancy in the developing world would lead to more shots in arms.”

It’s not a done deal, but we’re keeping a close eye on it: “In the WTO we decide by consensus, and this has not yet been achieved,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in a statement welcoming the deal. “My team and I have been working hard for the past three months and we are ready to roll up our sleeves again to…bring about a full agreement as quickly as possible.”

President Biden’s Monday: Ahead of his trip to Brussels for a NATO summit, he’s speaking with counterparts in France, Germany, Italy, and the UK to discuss Russia. This afternoon, he’ll join the Business Roundtable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting to discuss the U.S. response to Russia, as well as how he plans to tackle inflation, jobs, and the climate crisis.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The Senate is expected to take the next step in a long process to consider a China competitiveness bill, the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 4521), which the House passed in February with an amendment extending the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs and related pilots for five years. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Biden’s Supreme Court pick.