IP Waiver Proposal Won’t Hold Back Moderna’s Rise

Bancel: 'IP Is Not The Issue'

While White House support for an intellectual property waiver has been cheered by access campaigners, Moderna said it won’t help solve the pandemic’s big vaccine production challenges any time soon.

The Moderna logo is seen at the Moderna campus in Norwood, Massachusetts on on December 2, 2020, where the biotechnology company is mass producing its Covid-19 vaccine.
Moderna has already booked advance sales of $19.2bn for its COVID-19 vaccine this year, with more to come. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel has responded to the US government’s surprise support for an intellectual property waiver on COVID-19 vaccines by saying it will not hit his company’s earnings – and neither would it help ramp up manufacturing output globally.

The US government announced on 5 May its backing of India’s and South Africa’s moves to waive intellectual property (IP) rights via a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement, in the hope that it could address an acute shortage of doses in middle and lower income countries

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