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Major pharmaceutical companies are already ramping up production of their Covid-19 vaccine candidates as hopes for a coup mount.
Several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies are already piling up doses of their experimental vaccines in case they get approval in the near future.
Last week it emerged that the so-called Oxford vaccine seemed to work in both older and younger adults.
British drug maker AstraZeneca revealed that people of all ages who participated in the tests had an “immune response.”
The experimental vaccine also showed lower adverse responses among older people.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
And on Sunday, the company revealed that it wants to make sure “not a single day is wasted,” as it hopes to have so many supplies of the vaccine available to the public should it get approval.
A company spokesperson said: “AstraZeneca has started commercial manufacturing. This is one of the ways that we make sure that not a single day is wasted if this vaccine is shown to work. “
Currently, several companies are moving toward stage three of clinical trials, raising hope that a vaccine may be available by mid-2021.
Once approved, they are likely to be rolled out first among the elderly and vulnerable.
AstraZeneca, along with other major players Sanofi GSK and Janssen, have already signed an agreement with the European Commission to supply hundreds of millions of doses of a vaccine to member states, including Ireland.
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Sanofi-GSK told the Business Post that it is currently ramping up production of ingredients for its vaccine in anticipation of producing about 1 billion doses next year if it is proven safe.
Ian Gray, Sanodi’s medical director, said: “The intention is that if Phase 3 is moving in a good direction, and all the correct points are met and the authorities consider that it shows the effectiveness that it should show, we should see a license for that vaccine in mid-2021.
The positive news comes after Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said last week that he was “increasingly optimistic” that we will see a vaccine ready in the coming months.
While several health experts have warned that a Covid vaccine will not be the “silver bullet” to end the deadly virus, there is hope that the arrival of a jab will bring life back to relatively normal.
Earlier this week, there was other positive news when the American biopharmaceutical company Regeneron reported that its monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment helped people with mild and moderate Covid-19.
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