COVID-19 vaccine patent waiver is "no silver bullet" - EU's Michel

BRUSSELS - A proposed waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments is "no silver bullet", European Council president Charles Michel said on Thursday, adding he expected the topic to feature at the G7 summit.

"The question of intellectual property rights will likely be raised," Michel told a news conference ahead of the summit starting on Friday.

"The patent waiver might sound good, but it's no silver bullet. The TRIPS agreement already offers flexibility and we want to focus on concrete proposals, such as promoting voluntary licences and knowledge transfers and patent-pooling on mutually agreed terms," he continued.