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Reuters
The vaccine developers said they wanted to “ensure the public’s trust”
A group of nine vaccine developers has announced a “historic commitment” to uphold scientific and ethical standards in the search for a coronavirus vaccine.
The companies, including Pfizer and Merck, said they would only apply for regulatory approval after the vaccines went through three phases of clinical study.
It comes amid global debates about the safety of vaccines made this year.
US President Donald Trump has said he wants one available in the United States before the November election.
No vaccine has yet completed clinical trials, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), leading some scientists to fear that the search for a vaccine is becoming politicized and public trust will be damaged.
In their pledge, the nine biopharmaceutical firms did not mention Trump, but said they believed his action would “ensure public confidence” in the development of any vaccine.
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They pledged to “always make the safety and well-being of vaccinated people our highest priority.”
Other signatories were industry giants Johnson & Johnson, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Novavax.
“Together, these nine companies have collectively developed more than 70 new vaccines that have helped eradicate some of the world’s most complex and deadly public health threats,” the statement added.
About 180 vaccine candidates are being tested worldwide, says the WHO.
The organization has said it does not expect a vaccine to meet its efficacy and safety guidelines to be approved this year because of the time it takes to test them safely.
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President Donald Trump has said a vaccine could be developed in the US ahead of the November election.
None of the candidate vaccines in advanced clinical trials has so far shown a “clear signal” of efficacy at the level of at least the 50% sought by the WHO, spokeswoman Margaret Harris said last week.
“In terms of realistic schedules, we really don’t expect to see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year,” he added.
Thomas Cueni, CEO of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, has shared similar sentiments. The industry body represents the companies that signed the pledge.
“I think it is quite unlikely that we will have a vaccine approved or, in particular, distributed on a large scale before the end of this year,” he told the BBC. We may be surprised, but it is clear that manufacturers do not want speed over quality. “
Despite this, China and Russia have begun inoculating some key workers with domestically developed vaccines. All of them are still on the WHO list as in clinical trials.
Meanwhile, the US national regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has suggested that coronavirus vaccines may be approved before completing a third phase of clinical trials. This phase can often involve thousands of participants and last for several years.
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It also emerged last week that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had urged states to consider waiving certain requirements to be ready to distribute a possible vaccine by November 1, two days. before the presidential elections on November 3.
President Trump has hinted that a vaccine might be available before the election. But his Democratic rival Joe Biden has expressed skepticism that Trump will listen to scientists and implement a transparent process.
