November 2017
Vaccine intellectual property rights, innovation and access.
World Intellectual Property Organization
Global Challenges Report
Nov 2017
Author(s): Hilde Stevens, Isabelle Huys, Koenraad Debackere, Michel Goldman, Philip Stevens, Richard T. Mahoney
This WIPO Global Challenges Report describes the innovation process for vaccines. It explains how the restricted availability of vaccines is due to impediments at every stage of the process. Most of these obstacles are manageable, and intellectual property rights are associated with only some of them.
The analysis aims to put into perspective debates around health innovation and the availability of health technologies in developing countries, especially with respect to the role of intellectual property rights. In particular, it provides an overview of how, in the vaccines field, intellectual property rights have been used to meet global health challenges, and considers whether lessons can be drawn to inform other important health technologies.