'Betrayal of public trust': Pfizer under fire for resisting Paxlovid compulsory license

Are a pharma company's intellectual property rights also a human right? That's the question at the center of a Pfizer controvery in The Dominican Republic.

A slew of advocacy groups, including Trinity Health and Common Spirit Health, have signed an open letter to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla rebuking the company’s reported claim that its intellectual property is a human right. That claim, the groups say, came in response to a push for a compulsory license to Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral in The Dominican Republic, which would allow for sales of generics without the company's permission.