TRIPS expansion talks remain fraught; no agreement on report to General Council

The World Trade Organization talks on whether to expand certain intellectual property flexibilities for COVID-19 vaccines to tests and treatments have proven divisive enough that members this week could not agree even on the wording of a report on the status of the discussions for the General Council meeting, which will begin on Monday. With a lack of consensus on this lower-stakes matter, any agreement on the larger issue – expanding the so-called TRIPS waiver to cover diagnostics and therapeutics...