Prognosis
WTO Wades Into Vaccine Feud as Merkel, Pharma Balk at Biden Plan
- WTO chief has idea for a middle path on IP protection
- Germany underscores opposition to waiving vaccine patents
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The pharmaceutical companies hate it. The Biden administration is embracing it. Now, finding common ground for wider distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in poorer countries falls to the World Trade Organization -- a body known more for its inability to do international deals than to clinch them.
Drug companies have a powerful ally in Germany, along with other nations, opposing a waiver of rules protecting the intellectual property behind the vaccines. When the U.S. backed that waiver, it sent shares of American and European vaccine makers tumbling on Wednesday.