The ethics of intellectual property law in the area of pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines during times of pandemics

Abstract

The course of the Covid 19 pandemic, has demonstrated the serious obstacles to the availability and access to vaccines for many less-developed countries. One obstacle involves the pharmaceutical patents which limited the ability of many countries to afford the necessary vaccines. For many, the intellectual property laws created by the World Trade Organization and TRIPS agreement has shown itself to be unfair to less-developed countries. This is also seen as a problem in global justice. There is an increasing belief that pharmaceutical patents should be waived in times of emergency. But the question is how to justify these waivers? One approach might be the idea of the commons which underlies intellectual property in it most basic form. This paper explores ways of reforming intellectual property law in light of the recent problems connected to the Covid pandemic.