RE: WIRED 2021: CEO of Modern in the fight against the future of the Covid-19 vaccine

Yesterday New York Times fall bomb report About the patents for the modern Covid-19 vaccine. After four years of collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, Modern applied for a patent on the most critical component of its vaccine, and only included the names of its scientists. To the surprise of the NIH, all of its scientists were left out of filing patents, which could have major consequences. If the government agency had been included in the file, theoretically, the U.S. could have licensed the technology, which would help it get out faster and more widely, including to more developing countries that continue to have low vaccination rates. If the patent is granted in writing, this would give Moderna sole control over this technology, and potentially ten billion more profits. Many scientific communities see the Modern movement as a betrayal.

Today RE: WIRING, Maryn McKenna sat down with our lead writer Stéphane Bancel Modern, Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, MD, MALD, who is an international infectious disease physician. Bhadelia is the founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Policy and Research at Boston University, as well as associate director of the National Laboratory for Infectious Diseases (NEIDL), the BU’s largest containment research facility.

Moderna’s Bancel said it could not say much about the specific patent case because it is an open legal issue, but noted that making the prescription available would not be a sufficient vaccine immediately. “There are no factories around the world waiting to make this product,” Bancel said. “Because these factories don’t exist. It’s a whole new kind of product. ”

To find out why moderns care about profits so rigorously, he said, “If you think about it, you need a lot of investment to get innovations to bring in products.” Modern received billions of dollars from the U.S. government as part of Operation Warp Speed ​​to fund his research, with Bancel saying the money was not enough to build the new vaccine’s manufacturing capabilities. When governments and foundations did not appear willing to invest, the company had to go to the capital markets to raise about $ 5 billion. He believes that in order to motivate people to invest this type of money, they usually have to believe that it will be a return on investment.

For his part, Dr. Bhadelia does not think this is a situation. He believes it is about finding a balance to ensure that companies make a profit so that research can continue, and at the same time respond to the call for global health needs in a pandemic that has so far killed at least 5 million people. Vaccine equity is a key component. “There are still parts of the world where only 5 percent of the population has been vaccinated,” he said, while the US is receiving second or third doses and children are starting to be vaccinated before the holidays.