Putin Takes Patent Waivers on Covid Vaccines Seriously

Russian President Vladimir Putin weighed in on the discussion over the waiving patent rights on COVID-19 vaccines, after the U.S. reversed position and supported the proposal by South Africa and India. Putin commented: “Of course Russia would support such an approach.” It’s “an emergency” and the World Trade Organization (WTO) allows for waiving intellectual property rights in an emergency. Of note, instead of simply relying upon Russia’s WTO representative, he made a point to assign Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova to be involved in the upcoming WTO negotiations. The issue will revolve around the seriousness of advanced sector countries sharing patent knowledge and cooperating in technology transfer — and this is an area where Russia’s Sputnik V developer, the Russia Direct Investment Fund, has been more engaged than other vaccine developers.