Circa I've never agreed more with you. I'm probably missing something entirely in terms of vaccine development and ownership, but what's stopping someone from doing what was for insulin and making the patent and usage charges nominal.
tldr: IMHO: For Covid, it´s not about the money, it´s about quality control and trust. Gilead is an example; vaccines will be the same.
And there is information sharing - US NIH, domestically and internationally, for example
Money, or not
Gilead has made the Remdesivir process available non-exclusively and royalty-free to several labs for production and distribution to 127 low-income countries, including access to further enhancements and certified ingredients.
Gilead does not make a penny from that.
(Labs and distribution in higher-income countries will pay royalties to Gilead, though low-end - the initial development is really expensive).
Quality control
By controlling which labs can produce, Giliead assures quality control over Remdesivir. Since it is a delicate IV product that requires delicate pure ingredients, it needs sophisticated and pristine production facilities.
Hackers and thieves are not likely to have such a careful production and sourcing approach, nor have access to process improvements.
Theft vs cooperation
A company can open up information to those it trusts, and there are many such agreements, despite a highly competitive environment.
But there are companies and countries you simply cannot trust. For example:
- China steals Intellectual property and then uses it however they want, including debilitating the US company that developed it.. They do so through State hacking efforts and by turning a blind enforcement eye to deliberate private-sector theft via violations of licensing agreements.
- Russia is not a government, it is a mafia. They will steal the info (via State or private), use it for financial gain and to damage to the US creator - and who knows what will come out of their process and production.