Barking at the Wrong Tree: Articles 31-31bis TRIPs Revisited in Light of COVID-19 Lessons

Abstract

The COVID-19 reality challenged the assumption underlying Articles31-31bisof the TRIPS agreement. It illustrated that the major obstacle to access of developing countries and LDCs to medicines and/or vaccines in cases of broad-scale, global pandemics is global production capacity and distribution priorities, namely: availability, rather than price. This article examines the future implications of this understanding.