https://corporateeurope.org/en/2021/05/commissions-pharma-echo-chamber

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Who meets the European Commission to discuss the scarcity of COVID vaccines and medicines in Europe and globally? An investigation of recent meetings show a disconcerting pattern: only those not questioning big pharma’s monopoly on patents seem to be allowed in. While mega-philanthropist Bill Gates and the pro-patent lobby are a powerful force influencing the EU’s response, proponents of COVID technology-sharing face closed doors.

The global pandemic is at a turning point. With disasters unfolding on a new scale in India, Brazil, Mexico, and beyond, it is clear that the global response to the pandemic has been catastrophic and inadequate. A new strategy to achieve global vaccination as fast as possible is desperately needed: and the monopolies granted to a few companies that currently decide who can produce the vaccines and who cannot, are being brought into question. At the World Trade Organization where a proposal from India and South Africa to temporarily suspend intellectual property rights is being debated – a so-called ‘waiver from the agreement on intellectual property rights’ (TRIPS) – the EU representatives from the Commission have so far mimicked the arguments of big pharmaceutical companies and their lobby groups for months, as explained in an analysis by Corporate Europe Observatory.

On the face of it, that now seems to be changing. Following the decision of US President Biden to open negotiations on a patent waiver, the President of the European Commission has now said the EU is now ready to “discuss any proposals that address the crisis in an effective and pragmatic manner”. Following that statement, several EU member state governments have come out in support. This might be public pressure from a plethora of NGOs and social movements starting to work – it is definitely a step forward.

Still, it is far too early to assess if we will see real change in time. The European Union has a long history of bullying other countries to secure far-reaching pharma monopolies, and there is certainly nothing in the way the European Commission has addressed intellectual property rights during the pandemic that indicate a change of heart during the pandemic. Quite the contrary.

Building on our previous research, Corporate Europe Observatory has investigated who the Commissioners and their top civil servants in the cabinets have met with behind the scenes about the pandemic in recent months. As it turns out, the Commissioners almost exclusively meets with lobbyists who put Big Pharma’s agenda first, whereas critical voices are not heard. The image is that of an echo chamber. Given the increasing number of dissenting voices even within EU member states, will this finally be enough to break through the Commission’s corporate echo chamber?

Closed doors to proponents of open access

A good example is the treatment given to Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF has worked tirelessly in making sure access to COVID vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments should be made equally available in lower and middle income countries. The organisation was quick to realize that boosting global production would be needed to ensure sufficient supply, and to do so would require a robust discussion on the role of intellectual property in this pandemic. Despite MSF’s 20 years expertise on the issue (for example during the AIDS crisis) – and although the organization has itself provided medical support to several EU member states hit by the pandemic – a meeting request by MSF international President Dr Christos Christou with Health Commissioner Kyriakides was turned down, while a request for a meeting with Commissioner Dombrovskis didn’t just fail, it was never even answered.

And MSF is not alone: Global Health Advocates (GHA), an NGO working on health, tried to meet with Ursula von der Leyen to explain some of the key flaws in the current global effort – the lack of funds and the obstacles to technology transfer among other things – following a letter they had sent in a partnership with Save the Children, Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (D), and Aidsfonds (NL), among others. The meeting was refused. In the end, GHA had to settle for a meeting at a lower level in the hierarchy.

The catastrophe of inadequate vaccination

At the moment, the global effort to vaccinate the world’s population is in a deep crisis – the scarcity of vaccines, medicines, and testing agents are playing a major role in fueling the tragedy we see unfolding. That is not a mere local issue, it is about how production and distribution is handled globally, and it is about how the international effort is organised.

The horrific scenes we are seeing in countries like India and Brazil – and that could spread further across the global south – are stark evidence that the core international programme for vaccines and medicines distribution, COVAX, will not and cannot meet expectations. The way things are going, half of the countries in the globe will not see a comprehensive vaccination programme within the next two years, and in Africa only a handful of the 48 nations have fully vaccinated even one percent of their populations. The vow from COVAX to ensure equal access and at the same time for everyone, is a far cry from reality.

In response, the movement calling for technology-sharing of vital COVID vaccines and treatments through waiving of global rules on intellectual property rights is gaining strength, culminating so far in statements from the US and the EU that both sides are prepared to talk, a first step to address the need to revisit the rules that guarantee the owners of patents on vaccines and medicines a monopoly on their product for years to come. Allowing manufacturers in the global south and elsewhere to produce vaccines, medicines, and testing equipment is the alternative that surely must be considered by those in power in the European Union.

Massive pharma presence

But not if you ask the European Commission, apparently.

Corporate Europe Observatory has gone through the lists of meetings held by the five Commissioner’s with a direct stake in vaccines and medicines, namely President von der Leyen, Health Commissioner Kyriakides, Trade Commissioner Dombrovskis, Commissioner for international partnerships Jutta Urpilainen, and Single Market Commissioner Breton. Focusing on the meetings that could relate to the current state of production and distribution of vaccines and medicines since October 2020, a clear pattern emerges: the door is open mostly to pharmaceutical companies and their lobby groups, and to those that helped develop the global voluntary vaccine sharing setup, COVAX, that has proved inadequate.

From 1 March 2020, pharmaceutical companies had 44 meetings with Commissioners, and pharma associations had 117 encounters. Some of these meetings were bigger gatherings with industry on supplies of medicines and protective equipment in the early stages of the pandemic, and under those particular circumstances, it is likely that intellectual property rights did not emerge as a theme at the meetings, but they do give a good idea about the environment in which these discussions unfold: one where Commissioners and their cabinet are constantly meeting with pharma lobbyists with clear views on the matter.

The role of generic producers