How much for all this?
What about some information that is not so easily shared? With everything on the line, the immunity of COVID-19 feels a bit like a priceless commodity.
Pricing a vaccine is not as complicated as making one, but it is not far off. To defeat the coronavirus, the vaccine must be cheap and available in large quantities so that everyone gets a dose. But it must also turn enough of a profit to cover the costs of development and manufacturing. On August 5, investors will call, NPR reports, the CEO of Moderna said the company had already made deals with some countries at $ 32 and $ 37 a dose for small orders, with lower prices for larger quantities.
How does Inovio balance this sleek tight cover? Broderick said she thinks it’s doing well, adding that “on a large scale, we feel that our cost of goods will really be very high.”
The process of making DNA is actually not that different for beer brewing, she said, but instead of eating yeast sugar and letting go of alcohol, you have E. coli bacteria that act as a mini-factory to vaccinate to make. Injection of pieces of DNA made by a bacterium into human cells may sound strange, but it’s not really a new concept. Making DNA and adding it to cells has long been an important skill for basic scientific research – this is simply refining existing technology.
With the exception of a special use exemption in China, no vaccine is currently available to the public. But if you’re interested in sticking your arm out for science, Broderick said you can participate in the clinical trials. The Inovio website has a link that will take you to the government page where you can join the waiting list. The vaccine cannot progress without more tests, and more test subjects.
A clinical trial is a controlled scientific study, so sign-ups do not accept you. And because half of the participants will receive a vaccine, even if you do not attend the trial you will actually be immunized.
COVID-19 did not affect everyone equally. The elderly are especially at risk, and Black and Latino people, many working in essential jobs during the pandemic, have become ill and are dying at higher rates.
“If tested [of] the vaccine does not really reflect the demographics, the population for which it was designed, it is almost a false image, “said Broderick. Inovio is trying to address this in its trial design, she said.
“One of the things we have been very, very conscious of before our next round of clinical trials is that those groups are actively encouraged to participate in the clinical trial.”
Daniel Kulp, a researcher at Wistar who continues to work on the COVID-19 vaccine, said he thinks many different vaccines are available.
“I think that’s also an advantage,” Kulp said, “because they will all be different in what kind of immunity they ride and what kind of safety profile they have.”
With so many fax machines running on the market, people in the best case view access to various secure options all over the world as soon as possible. Not only for Inovio, but also for them personally, this is enormous, Broderick said.
“As a mother, as a citizen, you can not help but be saved by the situation we are in, that the whole world is in at the moment,” she said.
Patel also sees the importance of the work. “If we have a vaccine, and that’s next to other candidates, I think people will really feel better about feeling more comfortable and getting them back to normal daily life and being the social person we are.”
