The Korean Federation Medical Activist Groups for Health Right (KFHR), a medical activist group, urged the Korean government to disclose the details of its Covid-19 vaccine purchase deal with Pfizer.

The civic group made such a demand after a recent patent dispute between Moderna and Pfizer.

In August, Moderna filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech regarding its Covid-19 vaccine technology.

Moderna claimed that Pfizer and BioNTech used its mRNA core technology to develop Comirnaty, the latter’s Covid-19 vaccine.

Moderna is asking compensations for damages Comirnaty caused to its sales after March 8, 2022, and is said to be demanding up to three times the amount of its losses, KFHR said.

The activist group stressed that these patent disputes are not simply disputes between multinational pharmaceutical companies but are a problem for all countries experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As such, our group demands that the Korean government disclose its vaccine purchase deal with Pfizer,” the activist group said.

The activist group cited a recent report by Public Citizen, a U.S. civic group, as a reason why the Korean government should unveil its purchase agreement.

“The report showed that in the course of the vaccine purchase contract, Pfizer requested Latin American governments to protect Pfizer from damages against possible lawsuits, claims, and losses related to vaccine intellectual property rights at all stages, including manufacturing,” the group said. “Many countries, such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, where Covid-19 vaccines were urgently needed, had no choice but to accept the contract as requested by Pfizer.”

According to the terms of the contract, if the patent infringement is recognized in a lawsuit, the country that purchased the vaccine, not Pfizer, will be directly responsible for damages, it added.

KFHR stressed that despite such unfair contracts in other countries, the Korean government has stubbornly kept quiet about its deal with Pfizer.

“Although some countries in Europe and the U.S. have released their vaccine deals, only Korea has kept a lid on the detailed information about its contract,” the activist group said. “As the Korean government used taxes paid by citizens to sign the vaccine contract, it should clearly disclose what conditions were promised.”

According to the contents of the contract, the government must notify the public whether Korea will have to bear responsibility for damages, it added.

The activist group also stressed that science and technology related to infectious diseases should not be viewed as a proprietary property obtained through the efforts of a single company.

“Medical products such as vaccines developed during the Covid-19 pandemic are by no means the result of the efforts of one particular company,” the activist group said. “Each country has supported public research institutes and bio-venture companies in various fields over the past decade, and through such support, companies have been able to continue research and develop basic technologies.”

In the development stage, including clinical trials, many countries, including Korea, provided manpower, financial, and institutional support, it added.

However, the group criticized that there have been situations where a specific company has taken all the profits.

The group cited other patent lawsuits brought up by Arbutus Biopharma and Roivant against Moderna, Alnylam against Pfizer and Moderna, and CureVac against Pfizer and BioNTech regarding Covid-19 vaccine technologies.

“These are naturally occurring lawsuits in a winner-takes-all structure where a specific company takes all profits,” the group said. “However, in the end, excessive lawsuits will inevitably become another barrier to developing new technologies in the future.”

If a specific company monopolizes the profits of medical technology to respond to infectious diseases, it is highly likely that it will negatively impact future global response against other infectious diseases, it added.

The group also condemned the government for not taking an active role in making the Covid-19 vaccine-related technology public.

“South Korea has drawn attention for its ability to produce large amounts of vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the group said. “For this reason, the Korean government has consistently insisted on becoming a vaccine hub in meetings with heads of state.”

However, Korea remained silent in the discussion on the public nature of Covid-19 vaccine technology brought about by the World Trade Organization (WTO), it added.

As a result, the group argued that international discussions on the suspension of intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines did not bring any meaningful results.

“Vaccine development companies such as Moderna and Pfizer also oppose the expansion of production through technology transfer. Although Korea has large-scale vaccine production facilities, except for SK Bioscience’s production plant, local companies have only been able to participate in bottling,” the group said. “If Korea had actively criticized the technology monopoly of certain companies and agreed to the suspension of the provisions of intellectual property rights, the result could have been different.”

It is not too late for Korea to participate in the discussions and voice its opinion for international cooperation and technology sharing, it added.

The group stressed that Moderna and Pfizer earned $17.7 billion and $36.8 billion, respectively, from vaccine sales in 2021, and are estimated to earn an additional $21 billion and $34 billion, respectively, this year.

“Over the past two years, the amount they have earned from vaccines amounts to about 143 trillion won, which is more than the semiconductor sales that Korean companies produce in a year,” the activist group said. “Pfizer and Moderna, which recorded phenomenal sales, should not leave the damages for vaccine patent infringement to the countries that purchased the vaccine.”