Biden Sides with Progressives in Fight Against Intellectual Property – AAF – American Action Forum
This week the Biden Administration caved to pressure from progressives and tentatively embraced an effort led by India and South Africa to permit widespread international violations of intellectual property (IP) rights related to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics. The effort, however, will not advance the global fight against COVID-19, as the Biden Administration is surely aware. IP protections are not limiting vaccine availability, but waiving them could have long-term implications for innovation.
Over 100 developing nations along with progressive activists and many Democratic lawmakers in the United States have been pushing for a waiver of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)one of the key founding agreements of the World Trade Organizationarguing that IP protections are preventing developing countries from accessing COVID-19 vaccines. In theory, waiving IP protections for vaccines and other assorted products will allow countries such as India and South Africa to begin manufacturing vaccines themselves, thus speeding up the effort to reach global herd immunity. Given the ongoing public health tragedy in India in particular, any action that would speed access to vaccines and treatment would appear worthwhile. The proposed TRIPS waiver, however, wont help.
The issue is that there is little underutilized manufacturing capacity that can easily be activated if only those manufacturers had the access to patent information about the various vaccines. Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of Indiacurrently the largest producer of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the worldhas argued that access to IP is not limiting vaccine production; rather it is the time involved in scaling up manufacturing capacity. Similarly, Sai Prasadpresident of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufactures Network and an executive at Bharat Biotech, and Indian company specializing in vaccine manufacturingtold Reuters that waiving IP will not increase vaccine access because it is the capacity to manufacture the vaccines that is the obstacle, not access to IP.
In reality, vaccine developers have already been contracting with their competitors to make use of any excess manufacturing capacity available. In fact, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Novavax have all licensed their IP to Indian-based manufacturers. And for all the concern about IP preventing access to vaccines, India has yet to approve vaccines developed by Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, or Moderna for emergency use within the country. Whats more, the Biden Administration knows that IP is not a barrier to vaccine access. Just this last Sunday White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said in an interview with CBS News that really, manufacturing is the biggest problem. We have a factory here in the U.S. that has the full intellectual property rights to make the vaccine. They arent making doses because the factory has problems.
President Biden has clearly calculated that standing up to progressive demands to undercut IP rights isnt worth the political price, even though he knows that waiving IP will not address the vaccine shortfall. Unfortunately, waiving IP will have downstream impacts. Once the IP has been waived, there is no way to put the knowledge back in the bottle after the pandemic, and the investments in innovation these patent holders made will be much harder to recoup. The Indian government also knows that waiving IP wont fix the problem; instead this push is simply another front in a global fight against the basic idea of IP. But if we allow erosion of IP rights on this issue, its an open question if companies will continue to make the investments needed to address future public health threats.
Tara ONeill Hayes, Director of Human Welfare Policy
Over the past three years, overallhealth care priceshave gradually increased, rising 1.3 percent between March 2018 and March 2019 and 2.5 percent from March 2020 to March of this year. There are, however, noticeably different rates of growth across the various health care product and service lines.For example, hospital prices grew 1.8 percent and 2.5 percent year-over-year by March 2019 and March 2020, respectively, before jumping 4.8 percent by March 2021. Prices for physician and clinical services followed the same trend, but at a slower rate, rising 0.5 percent, 1.2 percent, and 2.9 percent in each of the past three years.Prescription drug prices, on the other hand, have declined in two of the past three years: down 0.4 percent from March 2018 to 2019, rising just 1.5 percent by March 2020, and declining 2.3 percent by March 2021. These figures indicate that health care price growth is not being driven by prescription drug prices, but rather by ever-risinghospital pricesprimarily, particularly given that hospital care accounts for nearly 40 percent of all health care expenditures while prescription drugs account for less than 20 percent.
Christopher Holt, Director of Health Care Policy
To track the progress in vaccinations, the Weekly Checkup will compile the most relevant statistics for the week, with the seven-day period ending on the Wednesday of each week.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTrends in COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the US, andTrends in COVID-19 Vaccinations in the US
Note: The U.S. population is 330,252,151.
Testimony: Lower Drug Costs Now Expanding Access to Affordable Health Care AAF President Douglas Holtz-EakinThe phrase rising drug costs is riddled with ambiguity, and some recent proposals for government negotiationare instead pushing for government price setting.
Axios:Lawmakers seek COVID-19 money for opioid treatment
Kaiser Health News:In Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, Millions Face Long Drives to Stroke Care
Read the original here:
Biden Sides with Progressives in Fight Against Intellectual Property - AAF - American Action Forum
- Mamdani electrified progressives in New York. In San Francisco, the left is full of envy. - Politico - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Minnesota progressives sound alarm over Trump tax bill - Minnesota Reformer - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Can Progressives Get Behind Parental Rights for All? - First Things - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Opinion | Your shampoo is locked up in stores, thanks to progressives - The Boston Globe - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Progressives trapped in 'misinformation bubble' about transgender youth treatments, Atlantic writer admits - Fox News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Protecting the Rights of Parents from Progressives - Mosaic Magazine - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Catholic progressives and the development of sexual doctrine - Catholic World Report - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Why Zohran Mamdanis New York win does not really hold lessons for progressives across the world - Scroll.in - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Parents, not progressives, know their kids best. They should control education. | Opinion - Yahoo - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Gavin Newsom wont save California Progressives have damaged the state - UnHerd - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- After Zohran Mamdanis upset, theres a way forward for pro-Israel progressives - The Forward - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Zohran Mamdanis victory should be a wake-up call to Canadian progressives - Ricochet Media - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Progressives tell Andrew Cuomo good riddance after Zohran Mamdanis shock victory in Democratic primary - the-independent.com - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Pennsylvania progressives turn back to former Fetterman foe as congressman spurns party line - Washington Examiner - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- After Zohran Mamdanis upset, theres a way forward for pro-Israel progressives - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Progressives Just Won Big in New York's Second-Largest City - Newsweek - June 26th, 2025 [June 26th, 2025]
- Big win in New York is a message for progressives. The Big Beautiful Bull further exposed. - Daily Kos - June 26th, 2025 [June 26th, 2025]
- How Cherry Hill progressives upset the Norcross machine - MSN - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Progressives and leftists must unite to save humanity from nuclear war - Granma - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- My conversation with a 'Third Way' Democrat: can progressives & centrists coexist in one party? - Daily Kos - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Politics | 2025 Was Supposed to Be a Big Year for RI Progressives at State House. It Is a Bust. - GoLocalProv - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Progressives Abandoned J. K. Rowling, Not the Other Way Around - National Review - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Inside the Cherry Hill political battle that pitted progressives against the Norcross machine - Inquirer.com - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Not Just Progressives: Over Half of Trump Voters Oppose US War on Iran - Common Dreams - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Ras Baraka: Dont Count Out the Progressives - New Jersey Globe - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- A new book explores why progressives made it impossible to build in America - Inquirer.com - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Opinion: Someone please send progressives the destination and ETA - Star Tribune - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- New power in Riga? New Unity and Progressives seek common ground - Baltic News Network - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Republican Antitrust Officials Shouldnt Behave Like Progressives - The Daily Economy - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Why people follow religions, and why progressives should care. - Daily Kos - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Hakeem Jeffries agrees with Elon Musk. Progressives do not, nor should any Democrat or American. - Daily Kos - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- House Progressives Block the Bombs Act Would End Transfer of Offensive Arms to Israel - Democracy Now! - June 7th, 2025 [June 7th, 2025]
- The Billionaires Backing the Neoliberal 'Abundance Coachella' Gathering Draw Ire From Progressives - Common Dreams - June 7th, 2025 [June 7th, 2025]
- Revolution against Israel, US, and the West binds progressives to Iran - The Jerusalem Post - June 7th, 2025 [June 7th, 2025]
- South Korean voters weary of political crisis are poised to return progressives to power - Le Monde.fr - June 7th, 2025 [June 7th, 2025]
- Video: Opinion | Progressives Are Driving Themselves Into Extinction - The New York Times - May 30th, 2025 [May 30th, 2025]
- Progressives anything but when it comes to Israel - Daily Herald - May 30th, 2025 [May 30th, 2025]
- How Progressives Are Unwittingly Aiding the Rise of Autocracy - Foreign Policy - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Progressives should care that the global population is set to fall - vox.com - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Progressives Mark Mother's Day With Calls to 'Honor Our Moms With Action' - Common Dreams - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Trump doesn't fear smart women. It's progressives who are really afraid. | Opinion - USA Today - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- With Trump in the Mix, Progressives Are Winning the Intra Party Crypto War - notus.org - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Democrats and Progressives Won Widespread Victories Across Texas in Backlash against MAGA Extremism - Progress Texas - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- The Progressives, The Conservatives, The Italians: Why This Conclave Is Different - Worldcrunch - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Newsoms back to needling progressives - Politico - May 2nd, 2025 [May 2nd, 2025]
- Opinion - The Supreme Courts immigration about-face has progressives all twisted up - Yahoo - May 2nd, 2025 [May 2nd, 2025]
- Are Progressives Coming Together in the South Bay ? Check Out "We The People South Bay" - LA Progressive - May 2nd, 2025 [May 2nd, 2025]
- The Risks Progressives Wont Discuss - The Times of Israel - May 2nd, 2025 [May 2nd, 2025]
- Watch: House progressives speak on first 100 days of Trumps second term - AOL.com - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- City Politics: Who Will Win Progressives' Votes?; Upwardly Mobile Jobs; Anne Applebaum on Trump - WNYC - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- National progressives back Houston attorney who fought GOP in court in Texas special election - The Hill - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- SIMS: I Agree With The Progressives Hands Off! - NH Journal - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Progressives: Can Religious and Non Religious get along? - Daily Kos - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- NYC progressives want to beat Adams and Cuomo. Can they set aside their differences? - Gothamist - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Josue Sierra: When progressives turn their backs on women - Broad + Liberty - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Why progressives failed the test of Oct 7 with Joshua Leifer - The Times of Israel - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Maybe progressives shouldn't have supported a larger, more extensive federal government for 100 years - The Daily Review - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Rich Lowry: Maybe progressives shouldnt have supported a larger, more extensive federal government for 100 years - Lewiston Sun Journal - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Rich Lowry: Maybe progressives shouldn't have supported a larger, more extensive federal government for 100 years - The Joplin Globe - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Kellyanne Conway rips progressives over Tesla protests: 'Trump derangement syndrome has reached stage five' - Fox Business - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- A Cohesive Message from Progressives - The New Yorker - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- The Left Has Turned White Progressives Into Hood Rats - AM 870 The ANSWER - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Progressives Are Pissed. This Group Wants Them to Run for Office - Rolling Stone - March 13th, 2025 [March 13th, 2025]
- AOC and other NY progressives call for Mahmoud Khalils release in letter to DHS - City & State New York - March 13th, 2025 [March 13th, 2025]
- Progressives are not demanding any special rights for anyone | Letters - Yahoo - March 13th, 2025 [March 13th, 2025]
- Californias Gavin Newsom opposes trans athletes in womens sports, splitting with progressives - MyMotherLode.com - March 11th, 2025 [March 11th, 2025]
- Progressives Gather In Concord to Protest, Well, Just About Everything - NH Journal - March 11th, 2025 [March 11th, 2025]
- Newsom deviates from progressives on womens sports issue - WORLD News Group - March 11th, 2025 [March 11th, 2025]
- California's Gavin Newsom opposes trans athletes in women's sports, splitting with progressives - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal - March 11th, 2025 [March 11th, 2025]
- GV progressives organize against Trump - Green Valley News - March 11th, 2025 [March 11th, 2025]
- OPINION: Labor, progressives, and the politics of the West Side - 48 Hills - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Adriana E. Ramrez: Progressives should admit that Donald Trump might do something right - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - March 3rd, 2025 [March 3rd, 2025]
- Decades of pandering to progressives have left both BP and Unilever at a loss - The Telegraph - March 3rd, 2025 [March 3rd, 2025]
- Progressives tap a rising star to deliver their response to Trump - POLITICO - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- Two Santa Ana progressives make bids for the 68th Assembly District - Los Angeles Times - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- The great rethink and the opportunity for progressives - Nation.Cymru - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- Progressives Say They Want Clean Energy. They Held Up This Hydro Project for Years. - POLITICO - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Meet the 'old-school Democrat' defying warped progressives to make his Southern city boom now Trump's back - Daily Mail - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Progressives go silent on court-packing with Trump in office - Washington Examiner - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Can progressives and moderates bridge the growing divide in the Democratic Party? - College of Social Sciences and Humanities - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]