[A2k] Proposed virus sharing resolutions would give affected countries control

[Sangeeta]

The Canadian Press

Proposed virus sharing resolutions would give affected countries control
Nov 19, 2007

Countries supplying influenza viruses to a global flu surveillance network
would retain substantial control over how the viruses are used under
proposals Indonesia and Thailand will submit to a special meeting of World
Health Organization member countries this week.

Thailand's proposal suggests the establishment of a Global Influenza Vaccin=
e
Fund, which would see countries and vaccine companies pay annual assessment=
s
that would be used to buy pandemic vaccines for developing countries.
Indonesia, whose refusal to share H5N1 avian flu viruses was the trigger fo=
r
the meeting, wants a country that donates a virus to have a veto right when
pharmaceutical companies ask to use that virus for vaccine production.
And companies would have to commit to "benefit sharing" in exchange for
access to viruses, the country's position paper, circulated among delegates
to the meeting, stipulates.

These are some of the proposals that will be on the table as WHO member
countries meet to grapple with the thorny issue of virus sharing in Geneva.
The special meeting begins Tuesday and runs through the end of the week.
The standoff, which has dragged on since early this year, stems from
Indonesia's realization that it could not afford to purchase vaccines made
from viruses isolated in Indonesia. It says it will not resume sending
samples to WHO laboratories without guarantees of access to affordable
pandemic vaccine.

While no other country has joined Indonesia in outright refusing to submit
viruses to the surveillance network, several support its demand that
developing countries should be able to buy - or be given - vaccine in the
event of a pandemic.

The WHO has been working for months to secure industry and donor country
support for a pandemic vaccine stockpile for developing countries.
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline announced earlier this year that it
would contribute enough vaccine to protect 25 million people and other
vaccine makers have said they too would donate.

It is expected WHO officials will flesh out the stockpile issue more
thoroughly this week, outlining a proposal from its scientific advisory
group on how large the stockpile should be.

"This meeting is very important because it will continue the discussion of
how to better ensure access to vaccines and other benefits of virus
sharing," Dr. David Heymann, the WHO's senior official for avian and
pandemic flu, said Sunday.

"So that the world can be more secure, so that there's a more uniform acces=
s
to these goods."

The Thai proposal does not ask that countries have prior consent over the
use of their viruses for vaccine. But it does suggest any company that
wanted to use viruses to develop influenza diagnostic tests or new antivira=
l
drugs would need separate written agreement.

And it states that any "recipient" of viruses provided to the network shoul=
d
be required to sign a promise to contribute to the proposed Global Influenz=
a
Vaccine Fund. (The proposal doesn't state if that demand would apply to
academic researchers as well as to companies hoping to profit from products
which used viruses.)

Several features of the proposals have already been deemed non-starters by
the head of the U.S. delegation to the meeting, Ambassador John Lange.
In an interview late last week, Lange, who is special representative for
avian and pandemic influenza, said the United States would object to any
move to require a "material transfer agreement" to be processed for every
virus submitted to the WHO's Global Influenza Surveillance Network.

Indonesia wants so-called MTAs to be completed for each virus; those oppose=
d
to the notion say it would undercut the network's ability to keep up to dat=
e
with what's happening with the rapidly mutating viruses by sinking the
laboratories into a morass of paperwork.

"We really need to be understanding that this is a process, whether it's th=
e
seasonal flu vaccines or a possible pandemic, where time is of the essence,=
"
Lange said.

And he said the U.S. would oppose any suggestion that virus contributing
countries would see benefits on a "one-to-one" basis.

Lange did say, however, that the U.S. could support creation of an
electronic tracking system that would allow countries that donate viruses t=
o
see how they are being used - a move he said would enhance transparency.
Both the Thai and the Indonesian proposals suggested similar systems.


Copyright =A9 2007 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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