Chris and Jonathan speak to Dean Tania Bubela from Simon Fraser University, an expert on scientific innovations and intellectual property. The big question: as we try to get COVID-19 vaccines into more arms and in a more equitable fashion worldwide, should the patents pharmaceutical companies have on these vaccines be lifted? And what would a better system look like when the next pandemic hits us?

 

3:45 What is a patent?

8:00 Patents in biomedicine

12:58 To lift or not to lift COVID-19 vaccine patents?

17:15 The potential of the mRNA platform

28:30 Bill Gates, his love of IP, and the Oxford University-AstraZeneca deal

35:34 A better system involving public-private partnerships

40:51 Do we need pharma?

46:22 Does pharma deserve our trust?

 

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* Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl.

 

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Links:

1) Tania Bubela on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bubela_tania