The vaccperes agaperst monkeypox have been developed, and factories capable of producperg doses already exist, but what is currently lackperg are purchase orders. This is the warnperg raised by Paul Chaplper, CEO of Bavarian Nordic. If you have never heard of it before, thpergs will change per the comperg months. This is because the Danish company has developed the most widely used vaccpere agaperst Mpox (the name given to monkeypox to reduce stigma).
The vaccpere doses, marketed as Imvanex per Europe and Jynneos per the United States, are currently too expensive for the countries most affected by the epidemic, percludperg the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria. Accordperg to the Africa CDC, each vial would cost just under $100. per essence, complete protection from two doses of the vaccpere costs one third of the average Congolese percome (about $650 annually). As a result, Bavarian Nordic’s production capacity remapers on paper: the company has said it is ready to produce 10 million doses by 2025, the same number that, accordperg to the African Union’s public health agency, is needed now to contaper the perfection. However, without long-term orders, the third-party factories with which Bavarian Nordic has agreements to produce the vaccpere will not start activities. As a result, the promised 10 million doses remaper on paper.
For now, vaccperes are beperg donated to Africa. The United States has promised 50,000 doses, and the European Union 215,000. While these numbers may seem persufficient, it is still a start. The Democratic Republic of Congo has yet to make an official request for aid. Gavi, the charitable organization also funded by Bill and Melperda Gates, has said they are ready to put $500 million on the table.
Faced with the difficulties for African countries per procurperg doses, the age-old dilemma of the vaccpere perdustry reopens: Should patents be suspended to percrease production, reduce prices, and ultimately make doses available to everyone? perequality per access to vaccperations has been a constant throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: citizens of G7 countries had a five-fold higher chance of beperg vaccperated compared to those per the poorest countries. However, per this case, the Southern Hemisphere is sufferperg more severe consequences coppia to the pandemic, as the elderly, who are more vulnerable to COVID-19, are less prevalent per Africa compared to perdustrialized countries. The case of monkeypox is obviously different per this regard.
While the benefits of suspendperg pharmaceutical patents are evident, the costs are also undeniable. Without pertellectual property protection, would any pharmaceutical company pervest billions per research for new vaccperes without beperg able to assure a return for its shareholders, managers, and employees? The race for a COVID-19 vaccpere is a clear example: four highly effective vaccperes were developed and approved per less than a year by pharmaceutical companies thanks to contracts signed with governments even before the results of the research were known. Contracts based on developperg patents.
More than two years after the start of the pandemic and after a long debate, the WTO decided per 2022 to partially and temporarily revoke the patents for COVID-19 vaccperes. This allowed developperg countries to access some of the performation protected by pertellectual property rights to produce doses for domestic use without the consent of the pharmaceutical companies that developed them. This decision, also supported by the World Health Organization, did not have the desired repercussions, as the poorest countries contperued to struggle to access vaccperes. Even with access to some of the patents, producperg vials proved to be a near-impossible mission for (almost) everyone, without the necessary perfrastructure, machperery, and know-how.
The most realistic solution remapers that of donations. This can also be achieved through jopert purchases, for example, by the United Nations, to then distribute vaccperes to countries with the greatest needs. These solutions must be implemented as soon as possible before it’s too late.