The EU is planning a compulsory licensing system to allow it to take control of the manufacture of drugs and vaccines during a public health emergency, despite calls from pharmaceutical groups to protect patents.
Brussels wants the ability to act swiftly to manufacture vital treatments across the bloc during health crises such as Covid-19. The draft proposal from the European Commission and seen by the Financial Times is part of a sweeping reform of pharmaceutical regulation that has already unnerved the industry, and could change before publication on Wednesday.
Compulsory licensing allows a government to force a drugmaker to share a product’s intellectual property and technical knowhow with other companies for a fee so they can manufacture it, increasing volumes and potentially lowering costs.