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Afrigen MD: WTO IP Waiver Important From ‘Freedom To Operate’ Standpoint

 
• By Anju Ghangurde

Afrigen’s MD, Petro Terblanche, discusses the operational freedom that the WTO intellectual property waiver provides for its COVID-19 vaccine being developed under the wider WHO-backed mRNA technology transfer hub initiative. The executive doesn’t anticipate big pharma pushback but says the alliance will “test the system”, though others believe the waiver in its current form doesn’t count for much.

WTO IP Waiver - Real Gains Or No Gains? • Source: Shutterstock

The World Trade Organization’s decision on a waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines may have fallen short of expectations of some stakeholders in terms of addressing wider inequities in access to lifesaving medical tools, but Afrigen Biologics, which is at the heart of the World Health Organization-backed mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub initiative in South Africa, asserts that it at least provides operational gains.

Afrigen’s managing director, Petro Terblanche told Scrip that the waiver gives the company the freedom to use ingredients

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