Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of India's Serum Institute, is working to mass-produce a low-cost coronavirus vaccine for the entire world, but the pharmaceutical industry and intellectual property laws remain hurdles, Politico reports.
Poonawalla is hoping the urgency of the pandemic leads to a reassessment of patent laws, which he says limit access to immunizations in developing countries while driving up prices in wealthier ones. "If you don't allow, for example, an Indian producer to sell in the U.S. because of some stupid rules and regulations, even though the product is identical to the U.S. product, you're going to have a supply situation," he told Politico. "And guess what. When you've got a low supply and high demand, what happens to the price? It skyrockets."
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