One year into the COVID pandemic, the first vaccines were just entering the market and there were not yet any therapeutics available. Innovators and their partners had scrambled to develop COVID vaccines - including with novel platforms - more quickly than ever before in history. Globally distributed networks for producing Vx and Tx were just being established. This report, based on interviews with senior leaders at the innovative biopharma companies leading the fight against COVID, captures the story of innovation, IP, and COVID. 

This Q&A was developed to inform discussions in Brussels and elsewhere about the EU SEP Regulation. It was published by Innovation Council, a cross-sectoral innovators group that includes cellular technology innovators.

This report presents the trajectory of the Biovac Institute in South Africa over the past two decades. Biovac is known globally for excellence in vaccines manufacturing and innovation, and it is a critical actor in the mRNA Hub. Biovac’s success is rooted in the leadership’s long-term vision, multiple projects with global tech transfer partners, targeted investments to build a highly skilled workforce, and other factors presented in the paper.

This analysis is based on interviews with health biotech experts from around the world. The report describes the category of health technologies known as “biologics” and presents trends in the global biologics market. It unpacks the strategies used by different countries to attract investments and technology transfer, resulting in the emergence of biologics centers of excellence for R&D and manufacturing.

This report, based on interviews with senior leaders at Merck Life Science, identifies strategies employed by private sector actors in the wake of the COVID pandemic to reinforce global biopharma supply chains. It sets forth recommendations as to how policymakers can support these efforts, to improve future pandemic preparedness and response as well as healthcare delivery in routine times.

This WEF blog presents actions taken by the Government of Korea, including in relation to trade policies, to attract investment and partnerships in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The country has rapidly become a hub for biomanufacturing in Asia; the co-authors showcased this journey the run-up to a WTO Ministerial.

This article for WIPO magazine describes strategies for improving diversity within organizations, in terms of how intellectual property is developed, identified, and managed. The insights come from discussions among global IP policymakers, and from the co-authors' experience with projects involving IP management and organizational change management.

This interview focuses on Jennifer Brant’s work on gender equity in access to intellectual property systems. The discussion focuses in part on Jen’s IP diversity research and publications, starting in 2018. It also touches on her work to create global and regional campaigns to raise awareness about how better access to IP rights can drive better results for companies and national economies, in addition to unlocking individual opportunities.

Innovation Insights is supporting Qualcomm to drive uptake of its innovative online IP management training program for African entrepreneurs. Building on similar programs launched by Qualcomm with local counsel in Taiwan, Germany, India and the United States, Learn2Protect Africa walks entrepreneurs through the basics of IP protection. It also provides guidance for securing and managing IP rights at specific IP offices in Africa. We are helping to create a distribution network for the program.

This blog, published by WEF, makes the case for a robust global trade and health agenda. It was written in advance of a WTO Ministerial, where Members were expected to discuss actions ranging from tariff reductions to commitments to avoid export restrictions on raw materials for COVID vaccines and diagnostics.

This is a literature review about diversity and inclusion in invention, creativity, and innovation, with analysis focusing primarily on access by women to patent systems, the reasons for relatively less access than that enjoyed by men, and the most promising government initiatives to correct this fact. The paper contains a comprehensive annex featuring government and public-private initiatives to address DEI in IP use.

Developed in partnership with Ethisphere, and published jointly by Ethisphere and Innovation Council (a cross-sectoral innovators group based in Geneva), this Guidance provides actionable insights about improving inclusion and diversity within an organization, such as a company or tech transfer office, in developing, identifying, and managing IP. The Guidance is available online, and the co-authors are available to host webinars during which they explain and coach users on its content.