On 3 March a meeting concerning the potential of Polish biotechnological and pharmaceutical sectors in the context of launching the domestic production of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 took place. The videoconference was organised at the initiative of members of the government of Poland, which was represented by J. Gowin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development, Labor and Technology, W. Murdzek, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as M. Miłkowski, the Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health. The President of the Polish Patent Office and the President of the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products also attended the meeting. Among the invited guests were representatives of the academic community and the leading pharmaceutical firms in Poland.

Rafał Witek, a partner at our firm, was also invited to the meeting as an expert in patent law in the area of biotechnology and pharmacy.

The participants discussed the current possibilities with regard to the production of vaccines against COVID-19 in Poland — it was an extraordinary opportunity to exchange opinions and to search common solutions in the face of the crisis related to scarcity of the vaccines.