WIPO Virtual Workshop examines “The Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Development Success” study during its launch

May 11, 2022

The rapid international response to the COVID-19 pandemic led to the accelerated development and manufacturing of vaccines to prevent the spread of the disease and the likelihood of severe infection. After commissioning a study to look at how the innovation ecosystem enabled the unprecedented speed with which COVID-19 vaccines were developed, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a virtual workshop to present and discuss the report The Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Development Success by Boston University professor Rena Conti. 

On May 5, 2022, WIPO released the report authored by Dr. Rena Conti, The Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Development Success, and organized a virtual workshop bringing together experts to discuss the study. Following opening remarks by Mr. Edward Kwakwa, WIPO Assistant Director General of the Global Challenges and Partnerships Sector, Professor Conti, an expert on health economics and policies, presented her findings, highlighting the nine pull and push incentives she called “drivers of successful COVID-19 vaccine creation.”

“Vaccine development for COVID did not start at ground zero when the epidemic was first identified,” explained Ms. Conti. “Rather, progress was predicated on decades of research characterizing SARS-related viruses and existing scientific tools, multi-party collaborations that included but were not limited to knowledge protected by the intellectual property of one or more parties.” The study also includes examples of unsuccessful COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

For context, vaccine development is costly and carries high risk. Of the small number of drugs that reach the market, clinical development and approval span approximately ten years. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are a useful incentive but only one of the multiple global factors influencing this process.

The study’s peer reviewers, Ms. Shanelle Hall, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and founder of “The Yellow House” consultancy firm, and Mr. Axel Metzger, professor of Civil Law and Intellectual Property at Humboldt-University in Berlin, appreciated the report and provided complementary information. Including analyzing Professor Conti’s nine push and pull incentives that led to rapid COVID-19 vaccine development and their overall impact.

Further contributions from Mr. Carsten Fink, WIPO’s Chief Economist, Mr. Martin Friede from the World Health Organization (WHO), and Ms. Deborah King of the Wellcome Trust, added to the informed discussion by, among other things, raising points about the challenges and opportunities of the global vaccine ecosystem. A lively debate among the panelists concluded the workshop. All speakers touched on the issue of equitable access to vaccines, and the need to build up regional capacity for vaccine research, development and production by leveraging the COVID-19 experience to encourage fresh thinking and innovation to prepare for future pandemics.

The full video of the virtual workshop, program, speakers' biographies, background materials, and the report The Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Development Success are available on the meeting webpage.