“Inappropriate and untimely“Moderna’s lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech accused of violating fundamental patents for the innovative technology platform mRna, at the basis of vaccines against Covid-19. To highlight this, speaking of” a black day for science and research and the international right to health “, is Andrea Crisanti, director of the Department of Molecular Medicine at the University of Paduawho comments to time.news Salute: “It is an untimely act because we are still in a transitory situation and we do not know if we will have to face new phases of the epidemic with the development of updated, different vaccines. inappropriate because it sheds a sinister light on the interests behind vaccines“.
And yet, adds Crisanti, “this is also at the same time an act of intimidation towards all those countries that do not have their own technologies and rely on this technology” to get a vaccine. “I think it could not be worse than that. It is something that goes beyond the specific case with Pfizer. It is an act of intimidation that can have negative consequences on all those who want to invest in vaccine research. I believe in usefulness. of patents as a lever for progress, technological innovation and wealth formation, but I also believe that there are situations in which the access and licensing of certain patents must be regulated, especially when there are public health needs, such as an epidemic, or social needs such as when poor or developing countries do not have the resources to be able to afford to develop a drug or vaccine on their own “.
This policy, he continues, “is called ‘global access’ and is also regulated by the WTO”. Moderna’s move, he concludes, “truly gives ammunition to all conspiracy theorists and those who have anti-vaccine positions and have expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the big drug companies to accumulate vaccine earnings. Now Pfizer has a team of lawyers who will give I have a hard time with Moderna for years, and I don’t think it will have any problems. I think instead of all the small businesses that don’t have the resources and can’t afford a lawsuit against Moderna. That’s why I believe that all of this has more of an intimidating value than a direct impact on Pfizer “.