What Europe says about COVID vaccine patents

Before you head out for the weekend, a few updates on the global fight over COVID-19 vaccine intellectual property—plus, we celebrate National Nurses Week. 

ICYMI: The Biden administration announced that they support a waiver on IP protections for COVID-19 vaccines—read our coverage yesterday.

But Germany’s pushing back. German Chancellor Angela Merkel took the opposite stance, saying the waiver would create “severe complications” for the production of vaccines, reports Bloomberg. 

“The limiting factor for the production of vaccines are manufacturing capacities and high quality standards, not the patents,” she said. “The protection of intellectual property is a source of innovation and this has to remain so in the future.”

The EU is still deciding. The EU said yesterday they will consider the plan to waive patents, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen previously said she would not support it, says The New York Times. EU support would be critical for the waiver to happen. 

In other news, it’s National Nurses Week. Through May 12, we will celebrate nurses across the U.S.—and worldwide—for the work they do for others and their significant contributions to our health care system. 

Nursing is the nation’s largest health care profession, with more than 3.8 million registered nurses (and growing) in the United States, we explain in a new blog.

And nurses’ contributions have been especially vital over the last year—which is why the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. 

Read the whole thing to learn more about why we’re celebrating nurses—and be sure to thank a nurse or two in your life this week!

More Health Care News: 

Biopharma Dive: Two biotechs team up to bring CRISPR to 'natural killer' cell therapy
CRISPR Therapeutics and Nkarta “aim to broaden the reach of cancer immunotherapy by applying gene editing tools to an emerging form of cell therapy through a wide-ranging collaboration.” 

The Wall Street Journal: CRISPR’S next frontier
“In the next decade, gene editing could help not just people with rare disorders but millions with heart disease, chronic pain and other conditions.”

The Sabin-Aspen Vaccine Science & Policy Group: Powering Vaccine R&D: Opportunities for Transformation
This new report highlights "five big ideas" that will "engender a more efficient and responsive approach to vaccine R&D."

It appears the tide could be turning when it comes to gene editing in the EU due to the climate benefits of the technology, says a new report released by the European Commission.

As background, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in 2018 that gene edited crops should be “subject to the same stringent regulations as other genetically modified organisms (GMOs),” explains Nature. 

However, a new European Commission study says gene editing could “have the potential to contribute to a more sustainable food system,” and help achieve the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. 

“Examples include plants more resistant to diseases and environmental conditions or climate change effects in general, improved agronomic or nutritional traits, reduced use of agricultural inputs (including plant protection products) and faster plant breeding,” says the executive summary. 

Furthermore, the EU’s current GMO legislation “is not fit for purpose for these innovative technologies,”says the EC. 

The next steps: The EC will begin a “wide and open consultation process to discuss the design of the new legal framework for these biotechnologies,” a debate Euractiv explains in football (soccer) terminology. BIO looks forward to weighing in. 

Read the full study.

Learn more about the climate benefits of gene editing.


More Agriculture & Environment News:

Martketplace: Will Europe rethink GMOs after COVID-19 vaccine? 
Millions of Europeans have been happy to receive a coronavirus vaccine, which relies on genetic engineering, prompting the question: What’s the difference between a GM shot and a GM crop? Will COVID-19 finally clinch the case in Europe for the commercial development of a technology that promises higher agricultural productivity, lower food prices, a cleaner environment and bigger export revenues for the U.S.?

President Biden’s Friday: Giving remarks on the April jobs report at 11:30 AM ET. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will join a press briefing at 12:30 PM ET. This afternoon, he’ll meet with his “Jobs Cabinet.” Per The New York Times, some climate experts question Biden’s climate plans, saying the administration “hasn’t defined a clear climate resilience strategy and has been slow to fill key jobs to coordinate that work.” 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Enjoy the weekend.