America’s biopharmaceutical companies are committed to COVID-19 treatment and vaccine research and development (R&D). Reliable IP protections have helped drive innovation and enhance patient access to breakthrough therapies. Innovators are also relying on these strong protections to discover new medical advances that will keep patients healthy during this pandemic and after.
Experts continue to highlight the importance of strong IP protections that encourage innovators to develop new COVID-19 solutions. Here are some of their thoughts:
- “IP is a driver for companies to be innovative, invent something new. It is important that governments create the right policy framework and necessary incentives to upscale innovation.” – Bertrand Piccard, founder of Solar Impulse Foundation, in the International Chamber of Commerce Newsroom
- “Innovation policy and IP policy play a silent role in supporting new ideas and investment… Businesses place expensive bets on the future, which is fraught with risk. The pandemic has increased risk. Rapid response requires confidence in an IP system that works and policy that supports business.” – Danny Marti, Head of Global Public Policy & Government Affairs at RELX and Vice Chairman of the Global Innovation Policy Center, in IP Watchdog
- “Even in a period of such challenge and adversity, businesses and governments alike can be on the look-out for how digitization, technology and IP can provide opportunities for innovation, and the regulatory framework can evolve and be responsive to facilitate the adoption of new technology models.” – Lam Chung Nian, Head of Intellectual Property Law at Wong Partnership, in Reuters
- “Patents are a central part of how pharma does business. Pharma products require longer and more complex research and development (R&D) cycles than products in other industries. Consequently, companies invest significant amounts of money into their new products early on in their development. Patent protection enables companies to recoup that R&D investment and continue to produce innovative, new drugs in the future.” – Alexandra Nawrat, Senior Medical Journalist at Verdict, in Pharmaceutical-Technology
Strong and reliable IP protections support America’s robust innovation ecosystem by promoting innovation and affordability for patients who rely on new treatments and cures, like those in development to treat COVID-19. America’s biopharmaceutical companies remain committed to ensuring that treatments and vaccines developed for COVID-19 are available to all who need them.
For more information on the importance of IP rights, visit our IP page and stay tuned for our next IP Explained post.
