Intellectual Property or Life-Saving Vaccine? Imperialism’s Drive for Profits and the Race for the Prize

By Ivan Byard, YCL-LJC General Secretary and member in Toronto

On Monday December 14 the Canadian government will receive their first shipment of SARS-COV-2 virus vaccines. The Federal Government has allocated more than a billion Canadian Dollars towards the procurement of private vaccines, with a further CD$5.4 billion set to go to the Public Health Agency of Canada to research and purchase more vaccines and COVID-19-related treatments for the Canadian market. The Canadian government has contracted the vaccine treatments for 154 million people, leading the world in the highest ratio of doses to population. With enough hypothetical treatments for more than 4 times the number of people in Canada, the Trudeau-Freeland Liberal government purchasing plan far exceeds even the closest ‘competitors’ with Britain at 2.95x and Australia 2.69x. So far Health Canada has only approved one vaccine, from Pfizer and BioNTech, joining the regulators of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) as the only health officials in the world to authorize public use. 

As one of the largest transnational pharmaceutical corporations, Pfizer generates around US$16 billion annually in profit. Pfizer shareholders are seeing a 25-year high in dividends. 

BioNTech CEO and founder Ugur Sahin has received US$4 billion in added wealth as BioNTech shares have more than doubled in price since April. He is now the 451st richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with US$5.5 billion. Two investors in BioNTech, twins Thomas and Andreas Strungmann, have both added US$8 billion to their net worth this year, making each worth about US$12.7 billion. 

December has seen record highs for daily reported cases of COVID-19 in Canada, with daily reported cases now more than triple what they were in the spring. Between November 28 and December 5 the number of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients increased from 1,677 to 2,830 beds. Figures from December 10 show significant differences in people tested for the provinces with the highest reported new cases: in Alberta 1,566 people from 5,964 tests, Quebec 1,842 people from 11,552 tests, and Ontario 1,983 people from 59,788 tests. 

The Federal Government invests roughly CDN$1 billion a year to fund medical research by scientists at Canadian universities without any democratic control. These scientists are permitted to take out patents and then sell them to pharmaceutical manufacturers, who then sell the products to the public for a profit. 

In 1972, the University of Toronto sold Connaught Laboratories — the most significant domestic research and development lab as well as a major manufacturer of vaccines at the time — for CDN$26 million to the Canada Development Corporation, making it a public utility. In 1985, Brian Mulroney’s Tory government fully privatized Connaught, ending public vaccine production. 

On October 2, India and South Africa brought forward a motion for temporary relaxations on intellectual property, patents, and other such provisions laid out under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization, for COVID vaccines and other tools required to fight the pandemic by poorer countries. South Africa currently chairs the TRIPS Council. At a TRIPS Council meeting on October 15-16, the motion was blocked by the US, the European Union (EU), Australia, Japan, Switzerland, the UK, and Canada. Again, on December 10, the Canadian government and their Imperialist partners blocked the motion; however, it remains on the agenda for the next meeting. This proposal has been co-sponsored by the delegations of Kenya, Eswatini, Pakistan, Mozambique, and Bolivia.

This proposal is about much more than vaccines. Intellectual property is a barrier to basic protective equipment such as masks and gloves. The motion calls for “rapid access to affordable medical products including diagnostic kits, medical masks, other personal protective equipment and ventilators, as well as vaccines and medicines for the prevention and treatment of patients in dire need”. 

Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, stated “The (intellectual property), which is the blood of the private sector, is what brought a solution to this pandemic and it is not a barrier right now,” in reaction to the proposal to lift barriers to lifesaving medical equipment. Bourla cashed out 62 per cent of his stock in the company on the same day that it announced the success of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. Bourla sold 132,508 of his shares at an average price of US$41.94, for a total of US$5.6 million, not far off the 52-week high of US$41.99 at which the stock traded. Pfizer’s shares increased almost 15% on the day of the announcement. 

Reuters News has alleged that hackers linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Republic of Korea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation have tried to steal information about the virus and potential treatments. Reuters News is part of Reuters Thomson which is owned by the Third Baron Thomson of Fleet, the wealthiest person in Canada, with an estimated net worth of $US35.7 billion. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, and former Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Intergovernmental Affairs Chrystia Freeland’s last job in the private sector was as Managing Director and Editor-at-Large of Reuters News. 

In August, the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights; the right to physical and mental health; the right to food; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Obiora Okafor, the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, reiterated the call from April of this year to lift all unilateral sanctions. 

“Sanctions are bringing suffering and death in countries like Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen,” said Alena Douhan, special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. “Sanctions should be lifted – or at a minimum eased – so people can get basics like soap and disinfectants to stay healthy, and so that hospitals can get ventilators and other equipment to keep people alive.”

Nothing has improved, she said, since she called in April for lifting of all unilateral sanctions that prevent sanctioned states from adequately fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, or since the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies made a similar appeal.

“Sanctions that were imposed in the name of delivering human rights are in fact killing people and depriving them of fundamental rights, including the rights to health, to food, and to life itself,” said Douhan and other UN experts. Water, soap, and electricity needed by hospitals, fuel for delivering vital goods, and food for the general population are all in short supply because of the sanctions.

The Canadian government currently imposes sanctions on 20 states including Belarus, DPRK, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Nicaruaga, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. 

In July, the United Nations General Assembly rejected the Trudeau-Freeland Liberal government’s campaign for a two-year term on the Security Council. The bid cost CDN$2.3 million dollars and was the second consecutive rejection after the Tories’ 2010 attempt. 

The Democratic Alternative 

Cuba’s internationally-recognized pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry has been involved in the race to develop vaccines against COVID-19 since March this year, when an accelerated program was launched. The Cuban Centre for the State Control of Drugs, Equipment and Medical Devices have approved clinical trials for four candidate vaccines developed domestically: Sovereignty 1 and 2, Mambisa, and Abdala. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO)’s 2014 global summary on vaccine-preventable diseases and academic studies, Cuba has not had a single reported case of measles since 1993, nor rubella since 1989. Five cases of mumps have been reported since 2000; the last one was in 2010. Further, pertussis hasn’t been reported since 1994. In contrast, Canada has had 2,203 cases of measles, at least 1,529 cases of mumps, and 21,292 cases of pertussis reported since 1990. In 2017, a mumps outbreak was identified with 143 cases (76% were 18–34 year olds) in Toronto, the most populous city in Canada. 

For a closer look at the Cuban model, here is an excerpt from a 2006 article in the peer-reviewed Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology:

“The Cuban philosophy of health care is simple: provide high levels of medical support at no cost to the patient for the entire population, and pursue a resolutely preventive approach to health care – especially in the area of infectious diseases. Equity of access, attention to the most relevant health issues and emphasis on cost effectiveness are fundamental to the success of the Cuban health care system. Access to quality health care, including promotional, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services, is seen by both the government and the public as one of the two crown jewels of the country, the other being access to quality education.

Alongside this careful attention to health care and education, Cuba has also focused its attention on other major determinants of health through subsidized quality housing; low unemployment rates and widespread job-creation programs; social security and retirement benefits; a nationwide (and heavily subsidized) day care and early childhood education program; sanitation efforts; nutrition support via the Cuban ration card system, which provides all Cubans a guaranteed amount of affordable food regardless of wealth or location; and community involvement in all population-based prevention strategies.

Another major difference between Canada and Cuba is in the area of intersectoral relationships between population-based organizations (which bring together unionized workers, neighbours, peasants, women, professionals and students), government bodies and ministries. The Committees to Defend the Revolution and the Cuban Women’s Federation are particularly important. The Committees to Defend the Revolution bring the neighbours on a city block together almost every month to analyze legislation and government policies, discuss neighbourhood problems and shortages, and plan how best to use collective resources (everything from recycling bottles to cleaning the streets). A key role has been their duty to share information, including news on personal and public health issues.”

A December 9 report from the United Nations Human Rights Commission laid out the issue, “All efforts to prevent, treat and contain COVID-19 must be based on the bedrock human-rights based principles of international solidarity, cooperation and assistance”. Going further, the report went on to say, “there is no room for nationalism or profitability in decision-making about access to vaccines, essential tests and treatments, and all other medical goods, services, and supplies”.

What does the world see in this vaccine? A commodity to be bought and sold, stockpiled by Imperialist countries, patented and marketed, or a life saving vaccine that can prevent death and suffering? Capitalism is failing to manage the crisis through competition. In countries with working class political power, their success has relied on collaboration. Friedrich Engels once said, “Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads: either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism.” 

Now is the time to organize to give shape to a renewed struggle. We need to struggle to learn, and learn to struggle: struggle for a universal public monopoly on social services free from barriers like user fees, so we can provide high quality healthcare for all! 

Two scientists are racing

For the good of all mankind

Both of them side-by-side

So determined

The Flaming Lips, “Race for the Prize”