[ad_1]
WAround the world, the latest outbreak of Covid-19 vaccines is causing nervousness. This shows great enthusiasm for a report from the USA, according to which the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its German partner Biontech have problems with the supply chain and therefore can only administer half of the doses of vaccine than originally planned.
The “Wall Street Journal” reported that only 50 instead of 100 million units could be produced by the end of the year. This news is not false, but Pfizer announced and implemented this cut several weeks ago.
“We already announced in our external communication in November that we would provide up to 50 million doses of vaccines,” a Pfizer spokeswoman clarified when asked by WELT and specifically mentions the second week of November.
The background appears to be delays in clinical trials, but also problems with providers. The results of the study came later than expected, while it took longer to obtain the necessary raw materials in sufficient quantity and quality.
However, all modifications to the production processes have now been completed and vaccination doses can be produced quickly.
After a short dip, the stock is recovering
Therefore, the goal for 2021 will not change, as Biontech boss Ugur Sahin recently emphasized: In the next year, both companies want to produce 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine worldwide.
However, the stock market reacted sensitively to the alleged bad news. In a first reaction, Biontech’s share price collapsed by four percent.
Only when it became clear that nothing had changed in the plans for this year and next did the stock pick up. It was not much different with the Pfizer stock, although its price is even less deviated in comparison.
But the excitement surrounding the vaccine also shows how sensitive vaccine production is. After all, in these preparations rest great hopes and expectations for the fight against Corona. However, the experts are reassuring: the problems of Pfizer and Biontech cannot be transferred one by one to other providers.
Just because there have been delays with the two partners does not necessarily mean that other Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers are also experiencing similar difficulties. Because manufacturing processes and conditions are often completely different, according to the Research Drug Manufacturers Association (VFA).
“Some work with service providers, others do it all themselves,” says a spokesperson. “Sometimes synthetic methods are used, sometimes biotechnological processes.”
Production in Germany and Belgium
Comparing newly developed vaccines against Covid-19 to the classic flu vaccine shows just how big the differences are. For the influenza vaccine, killed viruses are spread in a complex process, preferably in fertilized and hatched eggs of sterile chickens.
The Biontech and Pfizer vaccine, on the other hand, is produced as a so-called mRNA vaccine. With this technology, information from the virus genome is smuggled into human cells using so-called mRNA, which stimulates the immune system to target the virus.
At Biontech, part of the production takes place in Mainz and Idar-Oberstein, with a large plant in Marburg, Hesse, to follow later. The vaccine for Europe is packaged in Puurs, Belgium, where partner Pfizer has a great location.
For the US market, Pfizer produces the vaccine at three sites in St. Louis, Missouri, Andover (Massachusetts) and Kalamazoo (Michigan).
According to the Wall Street Journal report, some previous batches of the raw materials needed for production were said to not meet the required standards.
This led to production delays, he said, citing a person who was involved in the development of the vaccine. Pfizer itself does not want to go into detail.
Problems with supply chains can mean more than a lack of raw materials. Laboratory technology and machinery must also be available. Meanwhile, the German Association for Mechanical and Plant Engineering (VDMA) gives the go-ahead.
Approval procedures are getting more and more expensive
“We don’t see any bottlenecks in production resources at this time,” says a spokesperson. In any event, vaccine manufacturers would likely primarily use existing facilities. Because the new ones must first be validated. But that takes a long time.
The Chemical Industry Association (VCI), whose members partially supply the basic materials for vaccines, reports that approval procedures are increasingly complex and difficult to plan. “The construction of production plants is increasingly expensive and slower.” The chemical-pharmaceutical industry needs “top priority” for innovation and digitization.
“We see the simplification and consolidation of legal provisions, the use of clear legal terms, streamlining of procedures, fewer reporting requirements, and increased staff resources in approval authorities as the main drivers,” says the VCI.
And there are more challenges that threaten vaccine production. In any case, research results from IBM safety researchers suggest that certain states are actively disrupting vaccine logistics. A hacker attack targeting companies and authorities was reported last Thursday.
According to the experts of the IBM “X-Force” security research, all those who are currently involved in the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP) with the refrigeration logistics for vaccine delivery were targeted.
Hacking attacks not yet resolved
The attackers posed as employees of the Chinese company Haier Biomedical, sent phishing emails and attempted to spy on the vaccine logistics.
As a result, IBM warned all companies that are currently engaged in the production of raw materials or logistics material for the manufacture of vaccines against possible new attacks. It is not clear what the exact target of the network attackers is.
IBM researchers suspect that the attackers wanted to use the phishing emails to establish a kind of digital bridgehead in the systems of concerned authorities and companies; In this way, they could later have spied on the details of the production logistics and interrupted the production itself.
IBM investigators take over state actors and assign the attacks to the Russian or North Korean secret services. The targets included the Directorate General for Taxes and Customs Union of the EU Commission, as well as companies from Germany, Italy, South Korea, the Czech Republic and Taiwan.
German manufacturers particularly threatened
Consequently, the authorities urge caution against espionage attempts over the Internet, especially German manufacturers. “When it comes to the threat to German vaccine manufacturers, we rate them high,” a statement from the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) told WELT. Because Germany is in the first group internationally when it comes to researching corona vaccines.
“This is why manufacturers are an attractive target for cyber attackers,” says the BSI, which also states: “Vaccine manufacturers take this risk very seriously and have generally prepared in Consequently, in March, together with other security authorities, we sensitized companies in this area, we informed them of the risk situation and we provided them with a help package in the form of information on the situation and recommendations for action on protection measures “.
