At a May 28,2020 press briefing organized by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), pharma CEOs and the IFPMA DG commented on the WHO proposal for a global pool for rights in technologies for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Pascale Soriot, the CEO of AstaZeneca, a company receiving a reported $1.2 billion in funding from the US agency BARDA, claims he was “not aware” of the WHO proposal. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was the most negative, calling the proposal dangerous. At 2:30 on this clip, Thomas Cueni of IFPMA claims that a focus on vaccine patents is misplaced since know-how is the larger issue, and he claims that there has never been a compulsory license on a vaccine patent.
There have been, of course, many disputes over patent rights for vaccines, and know-how, data and even access to cell lines, is actually part of the Costa Rica/WHO proposal for a COVID-19 technology pool, which Thomas Cueni certainly understands.
Here are a few examples of litigation over vaccine patents. (Link)