Last week, we came a step closer to a discovery for the vaccine to COVID-19, after Oxford University produced a safe version of a treatment that provided a strong immune response – a discovery that could probably be written on a small piece of paper, but would be one of the most valuable assets on the planet.
Such a finding marks an incredible moment, as societies grapple with the heart-breaking reality of this deadly virus. But the progression of this vital treatment also serves to highlight the fundamentally flawed approach to access to medicines and, specifically, the costly practise of patent enclosure by powerful and profitable pharmaceutical giants, resulting in many being denied life-saving treatments.
The vaccine in question is being produced by the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which, despite receiving substantial public funding for the vaccine’s creation, has not yet confirmed whether the treatment will be released from patent monopoly. A more collective approach was recommended by President Alvarado of Costa Rica who said that “Vaccines, tests, diagnostics, treatments and other key tools in the coronavirus response must be made universally available as global public goods.”
