ELSI Implications of Prioritizing Biological Therapies in the Times of COVID-19

There is no doubt that COVID-19 will have a substantial impact on access to biologics and biosimilar uptake, as well as on the related ethical, legal, and social dimensions of prioritization decisions. This holds especially true for Denmark and European markets, where governments are expected to cover most of the pharmaceutical needs of their citizens and where the crisis has been leading to an important reduction of available resources. In this paper we make four key comments relating to (1) broader ethico-legal dimensions of prioritizations in Europe, (2) human rights law and (3) regulatory aspects of access, diversification, vulnerability and systemic trust, and (4) additional challenges posed by COVID-19.