BIO Chief Policy Officer John Murphy Testifies at USITC TRIPS Hearing

BIO at TRIPS hearing: Actions matter to investors
The threat of expanding IP waivers by the World Trade Organization (WTO) dampens investment in research, BIO’s Chief Policy Officer John Murphy testified yesterday before the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). What’s happening at USITC? The U.S. Trade Representative is weighing whether to support extending the WTO’s waiver on COVID-19 vaccines to include COVID diagnostics and therapeutics. USTR asked USITC to investigate the issue, and yesterday was the first day of a two-day hearing. The proposed expansion of the waiver “amounts to a broad assault targeting U.S. innovation” with “a particularly acute impact on U.S. based SME biotech firms,” especially because the U.S. accounts for 50% of global R&D on COVID-19 therapeutics, according to Murphy’s statement. Investors lose faith: Continued waivers tell investors “WTO agreements have the propensity to be renegotiated on the fly—waived in some circumstances,” and BIO members say this uncertainty hurts R&D fundraising, said Murphy. “Actions and words matter,” Murphy said. “It’s not scaremongering to say that investors are going to look at the actions” of the WTO and “titrate their investment based on that.” The market already feels it, he added: “It is materially true, and we’re seeing that now.”
What’s next: The USITC hearing continues today—see the agenda and watch it live.

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