Government and big pharma face clash on Covid-19 vaccine patent waiver

The Government could be on a collision course with the State’s powerful pharmaceutical industry over support for US backing of a move to lift patent protection on Covid-19 vaccines. The Biden administration has thrown its support behind the move that would allow other companies to make the jabs but reduce the profits of the pharmaceutical giants behind the vaccines. US trade representative Katherine Tai said that it would support the waiver of intellectual property protections on vaccines “to help end the pandemic” and that the US would participate in negotiations on the move at the World Trade Organisation, which sets the rules for global trade.