Invoking Compulsory Licensing Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
Increasing Accessibility of Vaccines in Indonesia
- DOI
- 10.2991/assehr.k.211112.044How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic; compulsory licensing; TRIPS Agreement; Indonesian Patent Law; COVID-19 vaccine; pharmaceutical patent
- Abstract
A patent gives inventors exclusive rights to profit from their products as well as preventing other parties from claiming it as theirs, which is regulated by both international law and Indonesia’s national law. Patenting pharmaceutical products is controversial as companies can profit from the complex development of medicine, while at the same time, they are pressured to develop better and newer products. Furthermore, the world is facing the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused the deaths of almost 3 million people worldwide and almost 40 thousand deaths in Indonesia alone. A working vaccine can stop this number from climbing as it can give enough immunity to the population. However, if pharmaceutical companies developing the vaccine amidst the COVID-19 pandemic want to gain profit from their development, they might be hindered by Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement and Article 109 juncto 111 of the Indonesian Patent Law. In dire circumstances such as extreme urgency, national emergencies, and/or in the event of a widely-spread disease, the government can force compulsory licensing, which will allow for increased accessibility of the medicine but disabling companies from profiting off the medicine. COVID-19 fulfills the circumstances laid by both regulations. Pursuing compulsory licensing may provide better access to vaccines as part of their right to health. This study will discuss humans’ right to life and health, as defined in several international human rights instruments and the Indonesian Human Rights Law. Conclusively, the matter of patenting the COVID-19 vaccine needs to consider several factors, such as financial, regulatory, and human rights.
- Copyright
- © 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Dyah Ayu Saraswati AU - Ghina Raihanah AU - Amanda Normanita Siregar PY - 2021 DA - 2021/11/23 TI - Invoking Compulsory Licensing Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic BT - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Law and Human Rights 2021 (ICLHR 2021) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 343 EP - 351 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211112.044 DO - 10.2991/assehr.k.211112.044 ID - Saraswati2021 ER -