https://www.theguardian.

com/society/ng-interactive/2020/apr/29/how-humans-have-reacted-to-pandemics-through-history-a-visual-guide
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/black-death-fatal-flu-past-pandemics-show-why-people-margins-suffer-most
▸ There were ~1,700 deaths from the
Third Plague in Europe between
1894 —1947 

▸ ~ 12 million died East, South and

South-east Asia, 10 million in India
alone

▸ Infectious Diseases: Forgotten

Diseases, Forgotten People

▸ If we include TB, Malaria, Dengue

affects 65% of global population

▸ Forgotten by whom?
▸ Economic challenges:
Inequality, job losses, supply
chains

▸ Geo-strategic: “Uncoupling”
or US attack on China
▸ Malaria drugs are more than 50 years old, also TB
▸ Big Pharma has abandoned developing new TB or
Malaria Drugs: No big bucks in infectious diseases

▸ Most research for drugs funded by government —

paying twice!
▸ Public Health given up in rich countries
▸ Chronic Diseases need lifelong
medicines

▸ Drugs for whom? Even the poor in

developed countries cannot afford such
drugs
▸ Example of big pharma pricing:
▸ Natco got a compulsory license in 2012 on
cancer drug nexavar, which sells at $65,000
(annual cost/patient)
▸ Bayer CEO Marijn Dekkers:
called this “theft”

▸ Dekker: “We did not

develop this medicine for
Indians…We developed it
for western patients who
can afford it.”

▸ USTR threat to India on Compulsory Licensing, No other

compulsory license issued in India after nexavar
▸ Covid-19 Drugs and Vaccines

▸ Repurposing drugs

▸ Small molecules Remdesivir,

Hydroxychloroquine

▸ Various anti-retrovirals,
monoclonal antibodies
(mAb’s)

▸ Vaccines — US, EU and China

▸ US Warpspeed, EU
▸ Costa Rica proposal in WHO: voluntarily
pool intellectual property for all medical
interventions: life-saving drugs,
diagnostics and vaccines

▸ Watered down version in World Health

Assembly on 18th May

▸ Major “philanthropic “ efforts: CEPI and

GAVI do not support this position