Not needed after all, WTO drops the COVID-19 TRIPS waiver

A bold move to rip up intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines appears to have been quietly dropped, after the World Trade Organization (WTO) opted not to extend the measure.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many commentators argued for a radical change to global licensing rules, compelled by the urgency of the situation and the need to broaden access to newly-available vaccines.

This led to the so-called Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver, agreed by the WTO in 2022 and supported by many countries including the USA, although  opposed by industry.