Tournament: Long Beach | Round: 1 | Opponent: IDK | Judge: IDK
My value is life and my criteria is utilitarianism. Saving lives is the most important function of a government who must represent all of its people, and evaluating costs and benefits emphasizes critical comparative decision making skills
Contention One – Waiving patents destroys pharmaceutical research. Eliminating patents undermines the financial incentives to innovate, and makes future investment uncertain.
Vaitilingam, 2021 – advisor at the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE ~Romesh May 20th, 2021 "Vaccines for developing countries: the costs and benefits of waiving patents" https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2021/05/20/vaccines-for-developing-countries-the-costs-and-benefits-of-waiving-patents/~~
Waiving patent protection may have significant negative effects." Eric Maskin at Yale adds:
AND
be a taking in violation of the taking bar in the fifth amendment."
Banerjee, 2021 - Project Coordinator in the Development Data Group at the World Bank ~Raka, "'Absolutely Unacceptable' COVID-19 Vaccination Rates in Developing Countries" The Development Podcast August 3, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/podcast/2021/07/30/-absolutely-unacceptable-vaccination-rates-in-developing-countries-the-development-podcast~~
Paul Blake: All right. So one last question. Is vaccine production a
AND
intended to go directly to COVAX or low and middle-income countries.
Contention Two - Patents are necessary to bring an end to the COVID 19 pandemic – three reasons.
Jofre-Bonet, 2021 - Research Professor at the School of Public Health at Yale University, ~Mireia "Would Waiving COVID-19 Vaccines Patents Save Lives?" with Mikel Berdud, Dimitrios Kourouklis, and Adrian Towse Tuesday, 18 May 2021 https://www.ohe.org/news/would-waiving-covid-19-vaccines-patents-save-lives~~
The arguments against waiving COVID-19 vaccines IP revolve around two key points:
AND
and pre-set, offering rewards of a size similar to patents.
Vaitilingam, 2021 – advisor at the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE ~Romesh May 20th, 2021 "Vaccines for developing countries: the costs and benefits of waiving patents" https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2021/05/20/vaccines-for-developing-countries-the-costs-and-benefits-of-waiving-patents/~~
More nuances in the experts' views come through in the short comments that they are
AND
the key. Scaling up is surely faster, even if more expensive."
Ramp up is the only way to maintain safety and confidence by avoiding counterfeit drugs
Bowman and Valentine, 2021 – NPR Correspondents ~Emma and Ashish "The Coronavirus Crisis Biden Backs Waiving International Patent Protections For COVID-19 Vaccines" May 5, 2021 https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/05/05/993998745/biden-backs-waiving-international-patent-protections-for-covid-19-vaccines~~
In response to the administration's support, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
AND
. job creation and the country's place as a leader in biomedical innovation.
Second – Distribution – Producing vaccines is only the first step. Industry cooperation is essential to maintain supply lines. Waiving patents undermines cooperation.
Silverman, 2021 – Policy Fellow, Center for Global Development ~Rachel February 8 "Would Exempting COVID-19 Vaccines from Intellectual Property Rights Improve Global Access and Equity?" Moderated By CGD President Masood Ahmed https://www.cgdev.org/debate/would-exempting-covid-19-vaccines-intellectual-property-rights-improve-global-access~~
I agree that the current imperative is to scale existing vaccines as quickly as possible
AND
speed and quality, and so far they seem willing to play ball.
Towse, 2021 – Senior Research Fellow, Office of Health Economics ~Adrian, February 8 "Would Exempting COVID-19 Vaccines from Intellectual Property Rights Improve Global Access and Equity?" Moderated By CGD President Masood Ahmed https://www.cgdev.org/debate/would-exempting-covid-19-vaccines-intellectual-property-rights-improve-global-access~~
We now have several COVID-19 vaccines approved by one or more high quality
AND
IPR is key to keeping an up-to-date vaccine portfolio.
Contention Three – Future Pandemics
Waiving patents for COVID sets the precedent for future investment in medical research. The affirmative will undermine our ability to respond to the Next Pandemic.
BBC, 2021 ~March 20 "Covid: Rich states 'block' vaccine plans for developing nations" https://www.bbc.com/news/world-56465395~~
But the drug industry argues that eroding patents would hinder its ability to invest in
AND
they have also donated financially and given medicines to help tackle the pandemic.
The Next Pandemic is inevitable, and risks human extinction.
Diamandis, 2021 - Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology University of Toronto ~Eleftherios 13 April 2021 Working Paper Review Version 1 – pre-peer review "The Mother of All Battles: Viruses vs. Humans. Can Humans Avoid Extinction in 50-100 Years?" https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202104.0397/v1~~
The recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which is causing COVID 19 disease
AND
will trigger preventative measures that could reverse or delay the projected adverse outcomes.