View of runners crossing Verrazano Bridge at the start of NY City Marathon

What the New York City Marathon Can Teach Us About Equitable Access to Vaccines

By Ana Santos Rutschman

What can the New York City Marathon experience teach those reflecting on ways to increase equity in the transnational allocation of scarce vaccine doses?

Quite a lot, it turns out. I explore this analogy in a recently published article in the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics (JLME), Increasing Equity in the Transnational Allocation of Vaccines Against Emerging Pathogens: A Multi-Modal Approach.

Read More

Gamblers make bets at the roulette table in a casino.

We All Stand to Benefit from Biden’s $2 Billion Bet on the Bioeconomy

By Matthew Chun

Business is bustling for biotechnology and biomanufacturing. On September 12, 2022, President Biden signed an executive order, launching a “whole-of-government approach to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing.” And two days later, he backed it up with a national summit and a $2 billion spending plan.

But who stands to benefit from this large commitment of federal money? We all do.

Read More

concept illustration of genes in DNA.

A Response to ‘Another Legislative Attempt to Revive Gene Patenting’

By Emily Michiko Morris

Professor Jorge Contreras’ commentary on the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2022 objects to Senator Thom Tillis’ recently introduced bill. Specifically, he argues that proposed inclusion of isolated and purified human genes and other naturally occurring substances as patent eligible subject matter is unnecessary and would both stymie research and obstruct access to medicine. But the truth is these criticisms rely mostly on narrative and anecdote rather than rigorous empirical evidence. (Professor Contreras has written an article acknowledging the many narratives behind the gene patenting debate: see Narratives of Gene Patenting, 43 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 1133 (2016)).

Read More

close up of hands signing contract.

Using Contracts to Lessen Inequities in Access to Medicines in Pandemics and Epidemics

By Sapna Kumar and Ana Santos Rutschman

Research funding contracts can help to safeguard against profound inequities in global allocation and distribution of lifesaving diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines.

During large transnational public health crises, global demand soars for diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines. Although some of these products can be developed within compressed timelines, global production capacity remains limited. Against a backdrop of product scarcity, wealthier countries can out-bid their lower-income counterparts and capture most of the supply during the early stages of pandemics and epidemics. This leaves the vulnerable low-income populations waiting months, or even years, for their turn.

This predictable, inequitable pattern can be held off before the next pandemic. At the research and development (R&D) stage, government funders can bind producers to equity goals through targeted contractual provisions, as we explain in a recently-published Nature Biotechnology article. We summarize our proposals in the following sections. Read More