The rollout of vaccines to protect people that need them in most low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) lags behind that access that people have in high-income countries (HIC). HICs have agreements with COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and have been stockpiling vaccines. Most LMICs have problems accessing them, even for frontline workers.
To improve access for all people in LMICs, global partnerships are needed to strengthen their research systems so that COVID-19 technologies can be transferred smoothly and rapidly to LMIC-based vaccine manufacturers. To better protect people in LIMCs, many countries are calling for the suspension of intellectual property rights (IPR) related to COVID-19 vaccines. This call for action is being opposed by many vaccine innovators, producers and stakeholders.
IPR issues can result in conflicts between partners when contracts are poorly negotiated or managed. To ensure equitable access to medicines and related technologies to all people in LMICs, the negotiation of fair and appropriate contracts is essential. Delivering on this requires solid legal skills and expertise. Unfortunately, due to a lack of legal expertise and resources in LMICs, negotiating equitable research partnerships is a major obstacle today.
The Fair Research Contracting (FRC) framework can help public health agencies and governments in LMICs address this challenge and gain the skills to negotiate with international partners on a level playing field. The FRC is specifically designed to support LMICs to enhance their contracting capabilities. It provides legal assistance in specialized areas of intellectual property and data sharing/ownership, including overhead cost recovery. This ensures that countries can give a better quality of life to their patients and outcomes for the health systems – and other parts of society, such as - agriculture, racial justice, gender equality, biodiversity, science, and the environment.
This pandemic has made very clear the disadvantage that LIMC populations face today, and why a framework for equitable and affordable global access to COVID-19 technologies is critically important. The FRC is a catalyst that will empower LMICs to locally manufacture vaccines and treatments and conduct local research to develop them – a lasting benefit for people and the national science and technology sector that extends beyond the COVID-19 era.
COHRED is an international non-profit organization established in Geneva in 1993. Our mission is to maximize the potential of research and innovation to bring long-term benefits to society. We do this by supporting countries to improve health, equity and development challenges faced by people living in low and middle-income countries. All countries, no matter how poor, need research and innovation systems to increase their global competitiveness to address development challenges. The FRC is one of several solutions that COHRED offers.
To ensure that all low and middle-income countries have access to information and tools for FRC, COHRED seeks partners and donors to make it:
- Available - support the FRC program so has the resources needed to manage and expand its open-source web platform as a resource for research and innovation managers and institutions to negotiate equitable contracts.
- Interactive - upgrade the FRC web platform for better accessibility in low-resource settings (http://frcweb.cohred.org/), and enhance interactive features including mobile capabilities and a useful smartphone App.
- Accessible – ensure that the FRC platform is freely available, providing open access to legal advisors.
Please help COHRED raise $100,000 to mobilize Fair Research Contracting in developing countries. Your contribution will directly improve access to research and innovation results that will improve people's lives. This will help reshape development practices in favor of people in low and middle-income countries.
Your donation will be acknowledged on the COHRED website (https://www.cohred.org/list-of-donors/) and receive the free special edition newsletter and membership. Institutional donors will receive an affiliation FRC badge to be displayed on their website. You may contribute as an anonymous donor if preferred. We are open to any and all proposals for cooperation. Please contact us frc@cohred.org
