Technology and Knowledge Diffusion
Why trade secrets matter: Covid vaccine manufacturing scale-up and the WTO’s proposed IP waiver
Geneva Network is organising a discussion on the role of trade secrets in Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing. A panel of global experts, including Innovation Council’s own Mark Schultz, will shed light on how this important intellectual property right works, how it relates to vaccine manufacturing, and the implications of the IP waiver currently under discussion at the WTO.
The webinar will take place on September 14, 2021: 13.00 – 14.00 GMT.
Biotechnology applications poised for multi-sector growth across APAC
Biotechnology has fundamental applications across multiple sectors that are critical to the growth of economies around the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. The key factors driving this growth include favourable government initiatives, plummeting sequencing prices, growing market demand for synthetic biology, and increasing R&D investments by the public and private sectors. Asia Pacific’s biotech market is expected to expand even faster in the future, with a CAGR of 16.8% from now until 2028. This speed can be attributed to improvements in healthcare infrastructure, supportive government policies, clinical trial services, and epidemiological factors.
Trade Secrets: A Primer
Trade secrets are an important component of the intellectual property (IP) system. In addition to their important role protecting business’ confidential information, they are an effective complement to patent protection. They can be used in areas where patents are not appropriate tools for protecting knowledge. Depending on the context, they can also be more cost-effective and practical to use than registered IP rights, especially patents. As such, trade secrets are a particularly useful tool for businesses with limited resources, such as small companies and firms in developing countries. In its latest paper, the Innovation Council answers the most important questions about trade secrets in a nutshell.
‘Landmark initiative’: Ramaphosa, Macron announce new SA-based Covid-19 vaccine hub
President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France would invest in boosting the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa, in order to help close the gap in vaccine availability between African and Western nations. South African Innovation Council member Biovac, which has a partnership with France, has partnered with African Biologics and Vaccines (a network of universities) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to establish Africa’s first Covid messenger RNA vaccine technology transfer hub.
Ten Ways IP Has Enabled Innovations That Have Helped Sustain the World Through the Pandemic
Jaci McDole and Stephen Ezell explain how intellectual property has played an indispensable role in facilitating the development of a range of inventive products, including some that have helped address the healthcare, work, and social challenges brought on by the pandemic. IP is just as important for start-ups as it is for established R&D-intensive industries, because it generates capital and revenue, enabling companies large and small to invest in researching, developing, manufacturing, and marketing their products. Voluntary licensing agreements enabled by IP have allowed the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics to be scaled up globally.
Webinar: How to make money from IP
Join EPO, TIA, SEDA, and AfricaBio on July 7th, from 10am to 1pm CAT, for an online seminar aimed at showcasing how African SMEs have benefited from IP innovation and how you and your business can benefit too.
swiTTreport2020: SWISS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER REPORT
swiTT, the Swiss technology transfer association, has published its annual survey. The report covers two main areas: a) research contracts of the participating institutions with private or public partners, and b) activities for the economic exploitation of research results from these institutions. The Swiss PRO interacts very actively with partners in the economy, and its activities are collectively designated in the report as “technology transfer” (TT) activities.
The European digital health revolution in the wake of COVID-19
Although European health systems have just faced the most challenging public health threat in their modern history, there have been some promising side effects in the form of industry disruptions catalysed by digital health. During this time of crisis, digital health has stepped in to provide expedient healthcare services that offer effectiveness, safety, and even humanity to patients who suffer from chronic conditions or need immediate health care. The European Commission recently recognized this, by proposing the EU4Health programme as part of a larger COVID-19 recovery response programme. The initiative aims to raise €5.1 billion to digitally transform the EU health sector and ensure preparedness for future cross-border health threats.
Africa needs vaccines. What would it take to make them here?
The authors of this article show that, by their estimates, the public market for vaccines in Africa could rise from $1.3 billion today to between $2.3 billion and $5.4 billion by 2030 (depending on the scenario). While Africa’s population is growing faster than that of most other regions, significant immunization coverage gaps remain, and new products (such as vaccines for Lassa fever or malaria) could be introduced and used widely on the continent. Leaders are increasingly aware of the importance of health security, both for its own sake and as a critical tool for securing the continent’s development, and are increasingly heeding calls for investments into vaccine manufacturing to prevent African countries from being last in line for vital supplies.