Public Private Partnership Quickest Best Path to Innovative Solutions
WASHINGTON, D.C.—To help build on the successful private-public partnerships already underway, today the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to United States Vice President Mike Pence on how best to continue working with the private sector to accelerate and deploy innovative solutions in the ongoing fight against COVID-19.
From the earliest days of the pandemic, the business community has stepped up to combat the coronavirus — from developing life-saving antivirals to manufacturing essential products to providing critical services that keep Americans safe. The response has been immense, as companies across all sectors of the economy reconfigure their operations and scale-up the ability to create and deploy new products and services at a remarkable speed.
Now, as the world moves to a new phase in responding to the crisis, it’s essential that public-private partnerships operate in a way that accelerates the global deployment of innovative and creative solutions—including cures and treatments—into the hands of medical professionals, first responders, and patients.
“Business and government are rallying to develop drug treatments, vaccines and medical equipment needed to combat COVID-19,” said David Hirschmann, President & CEO of the Chamber’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC). “Our recommendations will allow America to take advantage of its innovation edge, develop solutions quickly and remove obstacles to speedy action.”
“The scale of private sector mobilization is unprecedented,” Hirschmann continued. “America’s capacity to innovate is unrivaled in human history, and in this time of crisis, businesses have heard their marching orders—innovate and deliver—and they are responding. It will be critical that we continue to work together to streamline supply chains, remove unnecessary regulatory hurdles, and avoid unforced errors that slow progress.”
The Chamber offered the following recommendations as a roadmap for effective deployment of innovative COVID-19 solutions:
- Public-Private Partnership to Accelerate Delivery of Treatments and Vaccines – As innovative treatments and vaccines are developed, continued collaboration between business and government is the most effective path to accelerate global production and distribution. Working together, we can also minimize or avoid the need for extraordinary measures that would undermine our continued innovative capacity.
- Maintain Access to Knowledge - Continuing proactive collaboration with knowledge creators and scientific publishers will ensure timely delivery of high-quality, value-added information, data, and know-how during crises—while respecting the private property rights of the creator, and the investments made by the publisher, that makes this content possible.
- Secure Trusted Brands and Fight Counterfeits - Prioritizing and adopting proposals for information sharing among global customs agencies, and intellectual property owners, as well as other key stakeholders, will assist in assembling reliable data models for the interdiction, prosecution, and prevention of illicit trade.
