Good Day BIO: Talking IP with Congress and WTO

BIO is explaining the importance of IP protection to decision-makers in Washington and Geneva. On the environment, we look at another negative impact of climate change: inflation. (684 words, 3 minutes, 25 seconds)

BIO tells Congress and WTO about the need for IP protections

Intellectual property protections through the WTO allowed biotech companies to engage in global cooperation that enabled rapid development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, BIO experts explained to key decision-makers in Washington and Geneva.

ICYMI: WTO plans to decide in December whether to extend the waiver of IP rights for COVID-19 vaccines to COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics. The vaccine waiver, supported by the White House, did nothing to improve vaccine distribution while threatening the IP system that underpins drug development.

With the Biden administration still considering its position on a therapeutics waiver, Hans Sauer, BIO’s VP for Intellectual Property, joined a panel presenting to the New Democrat Coalition, 99 pro-growth, pro-innovation members comprising the largest House Democratic caucus. IP protections were the foundation for the robust and rapid response to COVID-19, and waiving those protections would hinder the ability to manage future pandemics effectively, the panel explained.

This remarkable global cooperation was made possible by the WTO’s TRIPS agreement on IP protections, Nancy Travis, BIO’s VP for International Affairs, told a WTO Public Forum panel in Geneva last week. Biotech has delivered nearly 30 billion vaccine doses worldwide, reaching more than 125 low- and middle-income countries through 140-plus voluntary licensing and manufacturing agreements, she explained.

“The protections that are embodied in the TRIPS agreement created the environment in which this could occur because companies had confidence in the legal regime and the outlook for sharing this information,” Travis said.

Discussions continue: BIO has been meeting foreign governments in Geneva this week to defend TRIPS and explain how BIO members are ensuring the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics through manufacturing and access programs.

More Health Care News:

Pfizer: Pfizer completes acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics
Pfizer yesterday announced “the completion of its acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. (GBT), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of life-changing treatments that provide hope to underserved patient communities starting with sickle cell disease (SCD). The acquisition reinforces Pfizer’s commitment to SCD, building on a 30-year legacy in the rare hematology space.” Both companies are BIO members.

Climate change is driving inflation

Climate change is hitting different parts of the country with droughts, fires, and flooding, but it is also fueling a nationwide problem: inflation.

In the past five years, climate change has caused five times as many “billion-dollar disasters” as we saw in the 1980s, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin said last week. “Climate change can manifest itself through an increase in acute, weather-related supply shocks … that can raise prices.”

Oranges crushed: The cost of frozen concentrate orange juice rose more than 5% in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian, and extreme drought in California is producing the smallest orange crop in 55 years, The Hill noted Tuesday.

If we ignore climate change and do nothing, food costs will continue to rise, experts warn according to The Hill—with a devastating impact on farmers’ livelihoods.

“The record-breaking dry spell, covering more than 40% of the continental U.S. for nearly two years,” is putting ranchers out of business, The Washington Post reported. Grazing opportunities are limited, and surprise early heat in Kansas this year killed more than 2,000 cattle that had not yet shed their winter coats.

Biotech can help farmers adapt—from developing heat-tolerant cattle, to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the long term with low-carbon biofuels and more sustainable agriculture. Gene editing can help produce stay fresh longer and reduce food waste, while gene-edited trees and microbes can draw excess carbon out of the air.

But: These scientific solutions need policy support, as BIO outlined in a recent letter to President Biden.

President Biden’s Thursday: Speaking about the economy and high-tech development at the IBM plant in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and attending fundraisers in New Jersey and New York City.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Recess.