Will the COVID Vaccine Companies Fall off the Patent Cliff?

On May 5 the Biden administration announced that the government would support the removal of patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization. "The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines," U.S. Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai said in a statement. "We will actively participate in text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) needed to make that happen."