has one (bamlanivimab) with EUAs for administration in patients older than 12 years of age with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection. Regeneron has two MAb drugs (casirivimab and imdevimab), and Eli Lilly & Co. One treatment, Veklury (remdesivir), has received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration for severe cases - despite some studies failing to show survival benefit ( 2). Two dozen therapies based on monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are progressing through clinical trials as of March 2021. To date, five billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide ( 1).ĭifferent approved COVID treatments and potential treatments have been and continue to be developed in the short time since the novel coronavirus was first recognized as a significant human pathogen. These include vaccines provided by Oxford–AstraZeneca, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, and several others from China, Russia, and India, which are being used to vaccinate individuals worldwide, and many more inoculates are in development (Figure 1). Similar investments in basic research and the applications of those studies to human health are important for other COVID vaccines now being administered. The basis for the BioNTech–Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is mRNA technology, which was developed after many years of research and supported by the prospect of patents. The difference is in large part because of advances in technology supported by incentives patents. By comparison, the most recent novel major vaccine against an infectious viral disease (mumps) took about three years to develop in the mid- to late-1960s. The speed with which anti-COVID vaccines have been developed is remarkable. The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines is an example of the benefits that incentives patents provide for protecting these investments.

Patents protect a developer’s investments of time and resources. Throughout most of the world - particularly in the United States, Europe, and Japan - patents provide incentives for the development of vaccines, small-molecule and biologic antiviral drugs, and other drug products. Figure 1: Coronavirus vaccine tracker (Financial Times, 26 April 2021)

Human error fallout 4 choice