The scientific community remains cautiously optimistic about finding a COVID-19 vaccine that could end in a pandemic that has nearly 23 million people infected and nearly 800,000 killed.
The rapid spread of the virus has created unusual demand for effective treatment, which can be met by all indications in record time – thanks in large part to governments taking steps to backstop the efforts of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Although a number of public health and philanthropies are also involved in the race with high stakes, governments are a linchpin in the ongoing efforts for research and development. The US Health and Human Services (HHS) Operation Warp Speed and the efforts of the United Kingdom’s National Health Services (NHS) have helped stimulate vaccination research and testing to produce a vaccine in record time. produce.
America has spent more than $ 10 billion on at least 800 million doses, including nearly $ 2 billion on Pfizer (PFE) / BioNTech (BNTX) for 100 million doses – even though the duo does not receive federal funding for the research and production of their vaccine .
Entities such as Emergent BioSolutions, Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Inc., Texas A&M University and FUJIFILM are committed to more than $ 1 billion in total, to assist in domestic production of COVID-19 vaccines.
To date, the fastest vaccine produced for a new disease has been four years.
“The virus has not yet had its first birthday, and already (more than) 150 vaccine candidates are being produced and tested,” Drs. Kevin Tracey, chairman of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research at Northwell Health, interviewed Yahoo Finance in an interview.
That is “a victory for science,” he added, even when he acknowledged that not all candidates will bring it to market.
Collaborations have been formed at the international level, with groups such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) all involved in supporting and working with companies in ‘ the race for a vaccine.
But of the hundreds of candidates currently in the mix, some are also getting funding to deliver doses to governments. That includes the US, Britain, the European Union and Australia.
Faxes become lucrative in the midst of unknown important people
Falls in the US do not spike that much. (Graph: David Foster / Yahoo Finance)
The market for a covid vaccine is estimated at $ 100 billion in sales and $ 40 billion in profits, according to an Evercore ISI analysis. And while some major players are expected to donate doses to countries with lower incomes, rather than sell at a profit, others have stated their intention to profit from the global pandemic.
Traditionally, faxes have been a less profitable product, due to the older technology and the longer period to produce. But recent candidates for shingles and human papillomavirus (HPV) are cost-effective, according to Arthur Caplan, a professor and bioethicist at NYU Langone Medical Center.
“It’s become lucrative,” Caplan said.
Newer technologies like messenger RNA and heat stable candidates offer companies the opportunity to make money. And the need for two doses effectively doubles the revenue potential, while halving the number of people who have access to the supply.
Most frontrunners tested in the US are two-shot faxes, including a primer and booster within a month time. This proves to be more effective against the virus
Dr. Dan Barouch, professor of medicine and immunology at Harvard Medical School, told Yahoo Finance’s Andy Serwer that a two-shot impulse requirement will depend on the durability of the vaccine. The length of immunity “is really an unknown question,” he added.
The long-term effects on the body are also not known. Recent data from a group of sailors show potential long-term immunity, and studies continue to analyze the long-term impact on the lungs, brain and other parts of the body.
The WHO has focused on developing vaccines as a tool to help curb the worldwide spread of the virus – but warns that there is much left to learn, and finding an effective vaccine can take time.
“Although we have learned so much about this disease, we have less than 8 months of experience to recover. We still know relatively little about the effects in the long run, ‘WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.
And experts conclude that even if a vaccine is found by the end of 2020, it is likely to be part of a first-generation vaccine, and less effective than subsequent versions that companies could release.
Estimated cost of recent epidemics / pandemic:
SARS (2003) – $ 40 billion
H5N1 (2006) – $ 40 billion
H1N1 (2009) – $ 45 billion
Ebola (2014) – $ 55 billion
COVID-19 (2020) – $ 8.8 TRILLIONInvesting in public health preparation is FAR cheaper than the economic impact of a pandemic.
– Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) August 19, 2020
Price, manufacturing – and cost
The full volume of taxpayers is being thrown into private pharmaceutical companies, many of which aim to profit from the pandemic and have benefited from spiky valuations in the stock market, reinforcing negative perceptions about the sector.
Companies such as Moderna (MRNA) and Novavax (NVAX), which have no products on the market and traded below $ 20 per share in January, have seen their market capitalizations move to more than $ 26 billion and $ 8 billion, respectively. the jackets of rising stock prices.
In the past, the U.S. government has stepped up to fund a public health crisis, though not quite on the same scale. In the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, which was far less severe than COVID-19, the Obama administration funded distribution of the vaccine through public health and private health systems, with a priority list set by the CDC.
Kathleen Sebellius, former HHS secretary under President Barack Obama, told Yahoo Finance that there are questions about how a vaccine will be distributed, or whether the FDA can stick to its promise to release only one vaccine if it proves safe and effective. is – and whether insurers will be charged for the administration of faxes.
An additional question is if companies “that are already prepaid are trying to repay it all,” she said.
But there are also questions about trust in a safe and effective vaccine. The 50% effective rate that the FDA has set is “a pretty damn low bar,” Sebellius said. She wondered whether the approval of a fax would inject a fresh round of politics into an already polarizing debate.
But one of the main differences is that amid the talk of vaccine nationalism, the US has more production opportunities on its side compared to 2009. Sebellius recalls that the country ‘had to’ usually ‘buy faxes that most were produced abroad.
‘Not surprisingly, the countries with capacity also had constituencies that stood in front of the line. One of the aftermath efforts was to develop a much more robust production capacity in the US that we have now, ‘she said – which has tripled.
@AnjKhem“data-reactid =” 67 “>Anjalee Khemlani is in reporter by Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @AnjKhem
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