• NIH obtaining capability to make mRNA jabs but biotech capacity still lacking
• Team sent to South Korea for training after patent waiver
ISLAMABAD: Following a waiver by the World Trade Organisation, which eases intellectual property restrictions on mRNA vaccines, Pakistan looks poised to domestically produce jabs using this advanced technology but due to lack of technical capacity this “golden opportunity” may not materialise.
The waiver provides Pakistan an opportunity to produce jabs using mRNA technology — vaccines that use a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA to build immune response — as in addition to Covid-19 jabs, this will also pave way for the production of vaccines against other viral diseases.
But there’s a major hiccup. Pakistan does not have a biotechnology plant to manufacture the latest type of vaccines, University of Health Sciences (UHS) Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram said.
A senior official of the Ministry of National Health Services, on condition of anonymity, said that the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver provided a “golden opportunity for Pakistan”.
The TRIPS waiver proposal was tabled by India and South Africa in October 2020. It sought to temporarily waive restrictions on patents and other intellectual property barriers, in a bid to speed up manufacturing and ease access to lifesaving products amid the Covid pandemic.
The official said the NIH was among 15 companies from as many states,...
Read Full Story: https://www.dawn.com/news/1700947/lack-of-tech-keeps-pakistan-from-making-own-covid-vaccine
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