WHO asks South African startup to replicate Moderna's mRNA vaccine
The fact that this is necessary, should invalidate any patent protection that Moderna (and Pfizer) have on the vaccine. Patents are supposed to work as a quid quo pro, you disclose the invention in exchange for a temporary monopoly. If it takes significant work to reverse engineer the invention, that quid quo pro hasn't been met, the patent should be considered invalid.If Moderna and Pfizer want to protect the vaccine via trade secrets, from an intellectual property that's fine, but they shouldn't have any government defence against reverse engineering.(Note: Talking in moral terms here, there is some legal support for the argument, at least in Canada (not sure about the US), but I wouldn't suggest that I could predict which way the case would go without a lot more information. For an example case along these lines from Canada, see: https://www.pharmainbrief.com/2017/08/fca-upholds-gilead-vic...)