To my knowledge, IP wasn’t the limiting factor over the last two years. For the big two vaccines, it was the lack of facilities that could handle mRNA encapsulation. People say that the Gates Foundation did damage by making AZ proprietary, but in practice it was licensed very permissively and they ended up producing more than demand. (It could still have been the wrong thing ex ante, i.e. before we knew its disappointing effectiveness.)
Be that as it may, removal of IP barriers still makes pharmaceuticals more accessible; IP barriers were one of the main reasons for lack of access to HIV/AIDS medications, before they were challenged. I do not see a good reason for EA projects to withhold patent rights, if the purpose of creating the vaccine is doing the most good for the most people. A donation of patent rights is a donation of time and money.
(I am not from Alvea):
To my knowledge, IP wasn’t the limiting factor over the last two years. For the big two vaccines, it was the lack of facilities that could handle mRNA encapsulation. People say that the Gates Foundation did damage by making AZ proprietary, but in practice it was licensed very permissively and they ended up producing more than demand. (It could still have been the wrong thing ex ante, i.e. before we knew its disappointing effectiveness.)
Be that as it may, removal of IP barriers still makes pharmaceuticals more accessible; IP barriers were one of the main reasons for lack of access to HIV/AIDS medications, before they were challenged. I do not see a good reason for EA projects to withhold patent rights, if the purpose of creating the vaccine is doing the most good for the most people. A donation of patent rights is a donation of time and money.