Editing Vaccine (section)

===Patents===
According to the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO), the biggest barrier to vaccine production in less developed countries has not been [[patent]]s, but the substantial financial, [[infrastructure]], and workforce requirements needed for market entry. Vaccines are complex mixtures of biological compounds, and unlike the case for [[prescription drug]]s, there are no true [[generic drug|generic vaccines]]. The vaccine produced by a new facility must undergo complete clinical testing for safety and efficacy by the manufacturer. For most vaccines, specific processes in technology are patented. These can be circumvented by alternative manufacturing methods, but this required R&D infrastructure and a suitably skilled workforce. In the case of a few relatively new vaccines, such as the [[human papillomavirus]] vaccine, the patents may impose an additional barrier.<ref>{{cite web|title=Increasing Access to Vaccines Through Technology Transfer and Local Production|publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO)|date=2011|url=https://www.who.int/phi/publications/Increasing_Access_to_Vaccines_Through_Technology_Transfer.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123091841/http://www.who.int/phi/publications/Increasing_Access_to_Vaccines_Through_Technology_Transfer.pdf|archive-date=23 November 2015}}</ref>

When increased production of vaccines was urgently needed during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] in 2021, the [[World Trade Organization]] and governments around the world evaluated whether to waive [[intellectual property]] rights and patents on [[COVID-19 vaccine]]s, which would "eliminate all potential barriers to the timely access of affordable COVID-19 medical products, including vaccines and medicines, and scale up the manufacturing and supply of essential medical products".<ref name="somos">{{cite news |author1=Christy Somos |title=Everything you need to know about the WTO's COVID-19 vaccine patent proposal |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-wto-s-covid-19-vaccine-patent-proposal-1.5418708 |access-date=23 May 2021 |work=CTV News |date=7 May 2021 |archive-date=23 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523145416/https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-wto-s-covid-19-vaccine-patent-proposal-1.5418708 |url-status=live }}</ref>