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 Leaders of the 27-nation bloc will discuss the patent waiver idea at
a two-day summit that starts in the Portuguese city of Porto on
Friday, but are unlikely to formulate a strong united position apart
from a general readiness to discuss the topic.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday backed waiving intellectual
property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, responding to pressure from
Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but angering
pharmaceutical companies.
Some EU officials argue that the waiving process, which would take
place in the World Trade Organization (WTO), could take two years,
making it irrelevant to getting the pandemic quickly under control.
Experts also point out that agreement to waive patent rights could
vary in length of time or depending on the method used by the
vaccine to produce immunity, with the latest, most advanced mRNA
technology less likely to be made free for all.
The EU leaders are likely to hear advice from the bloc's executive
Commission that a waiver would not help boost the production of
shots, especially in poorer countries, as they require advanced
technologies and facilities, officials said.
"We need an EU coordinated approach. We are not convinced if patent
waivers would effectively help getting more vaccine doses to the
people, since the main bottleneck for now is production capacity,"
one official from an EU country said.
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 "Production needs to be ramped
up. Patents are currently not the main obstacle.
However we are open to discuss all possible
solutions," the official added.
Germany, whose BionTech company owns a patent on
a vaccine jointly developed with U.S. Pfizer
using the latest mRNA technology, opposes the
waiving of the patent rights, while Italy
supports it, EU officials said.
EU officials believe the best way to end the
pandemic quickly, preventing the emergence of
new variants of the coronavirus, is to boost the
production of shots and sell or donate vaccines
to countries around the world.
"We are open to discuss the idea, options
regarding patents, to see how this could help us
achieve the goal of accelerating production and
deliveries around the world," a Commission
spokeswoman told a regular news briefing.
The EU, which is among the biggest producers of
vaccines in the world, is also the main exporter
of shots with 200 million doses already shipped
outside the bloc, unlike the United States or
Britain, which do not export the vaccines they
make.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Phil Blenkinsop,
Francesco Guarasio and Gabriela Baczynska;
Editing by John Chalmers and Frances Kerry)
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