‘Despite the optimism [over vaccines], there remains a missing space for people in low-income nations who desperately need these vaccines and who may wait too long. As the World Health Organization (WHO) noted in a recent media conference, the global vaccine stocks remain critically short of supply at this time.
‘Biolyse Pharma an Ontario based manufacturer of sterile injectable medicine hopes to be part of a solution. Biolyse has the potential of producing up to twenty million doses per year. In order to do so, the company will need access to the drug master file of an already approved vaccine which is generally patent protected. The Canadian Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) relating to emergency-patent transfer may permit the company to achieve its objective.
‘CAMR is the Canadian enabling legislation that reflects the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), a protocol between all the member nations of the World Trade Organisation. Under CAMR, there is an emergency provision for the federal government to waive patent rights, allowing other generic-producing companies to start expedited production of critical preventative or curative drugs. Canada therefore has a mechanism in place to allow drug companies to a compulsory license from a patent holder.’
Read here (Newswire, Mar 11, 2021)
