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Six people who have spent 2020 tirelessly seeking a way out of the greatest crisis of our era have been named Asians of the Year by The Straits Times.
Among them, the 2020 award winners capture the entire trajectory of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is Chinese researcher Zhang Yongzhen, who led the team that mapped and published online the first complete genome of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that caused the pandemic; three scientists, Major-General Chen Wei of China, Dr. Ryuichi Morishita of Japan, and Professor Ooi Eng Eong of Singapore, who are among those at the forefront of virus vaccine development; and two entrepreneurs, Mr. Seo Jung-jin from South Korea and Mr. Adar Poonawalla from India, whose companies will enable the manufacture and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and other treatments around the world.
Known collectively as “the virus busters,” they are heroes of a kind, having dedicated themselves to the urgent cause of solving the coronavirus pandemic, each in their own capacity.
“Sars-CoV-2, the virus that has brought death and hardship to the world’s largest and most populous continent, meets its tamer in The Virus Busters,” the award quote read. “We salute your courage, care, commitment and creativity. In this dangerous hour, you are a symbol of hope for Asia, indeed for the world.”
In deciding to honor The Virus Busters, the editors of ST had in mind those who, in one way or another, have enabled the complex multi-stage process to prevent so many people around the world from contracting the deadly disease in the shortest time. possible. .
Warren Fernandez, editor-in-chief of Singapore Press Holdings’ English / Malay / Tamil Media Group and editor of ST, said Warren Fernandez: “Every year, the editors of ST look for a person, team or organization who has not only done or given shape the news, but also helped to contribute positively to Asia in the process.
“This year we naturally looked at those involved in the fight against Covid-19, which has dominated the headlines. We debated long and hard, but finally reached an agreement on a group of people who have done more to help find an answer. to the crisis caused by the virus.
“They are a disparate group whose collective efforts have fueled the search for vaccines, allowing them to be discovered and delivered with an urgency never before seen or attempted. Their commitment and actions have helped save lives and give hope to people across Asia. “. and the world.”
Working to end the pandemic
Professor Zhang Yongzhen, 55, from China’s Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, helped launch the working process to end the pandemic.
He and his team worked hard for two nights in a row in early January, after receiving their first sample of the mysterious disease plaguing the city of Wuhan in central Hubei province, to map the first full genome of the virus.
With the identification of the pathogen, he realized the enormity of the situation.
Professor Zhang’s team quickly shared their findings with authorities and posted the information online to alert the global scientific community to the dangerous virus that is about to sweep the world.
It would have taken extraordinary courage to do so, as some whistleblowing doctors who had previously tried to raise the alarm about the disease had been detained at that time. The timely transparency of Professor Zhang and his team was vital to the rapid development of test kits and early research on treatments and vaccines for the disease.
In Wuhan, the Chinese military’s top epidemiologist, Chen Wei, 54, rushed to develop a viable vaccine to end the outbreak that she could already foresee would wreak havoc around the world.
In just 50 days, she and her team had produced a potential vaccine with Chinese company CanSino Biologics ready for clinical trials. It became the world’s first vaccine approved for restricted use.
While Maj-Gen Chen’s vaccine employed a tried and tested method of using a common cold virus to carry genetic data from the coronavirus protein to elicit an immune response, other researchers are blazing a trail in experimentation with new technologies to develop your own vaccines.
In Japan, 58-year-old Dr. Ryuichi Morishita, professor of clinical gene therapy at Osaka University, is working with local biotech company AnGes on a DNA vaccine, while Singaporean professor Ooi Eng Eong of 53 years old, he’s a leading scientist at Duke. -NUS Medical School and the American pharmaceutical company Arcturus Therapeutics to develop a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.
DNA and mRNA vaccines differ from traditional ones in that, instead of injecting a form of virus into the body, they only take a small part of the genetic data of the coronavirus to stimulate cells to create a protein that would produce antibodies against the virus. .
If Covid-19 DNA and mRNA vaccines pass clinical trials and are approved for use in humans, they will be among the first of their kind.
The first mRNA vaccine of its kind, a U.S.-German collaboration of drug makers Pfizer and BioNTech, was approved for mass production only on Wednesday.
These new technologies can be developed rapidly and can produce vaccines that are cheaper to produce.
The Asian efforts are just part of a broader global collaboration. Developers in the United States and Europe have also been working at lightning speed to reduce the typical years required to create a vaccine to just months.
There are also promising candidate vaccines from Russia and China, although they have been less transparent in publishing the results of clinical trials.
Scientists and researchers are not the only ones with a role to play.
Nations are now preparing for the mass production and distribution of these long-awaited vaccines, and many in Asia are moving to make them free to their people. Among those enabling the process are two key Asian entrepreneurs whose contributions have helped us move closer each day toward the ultimate goal of making billions of doses of vaccines and treatments available to people around the world.
Seo Jung-jin, president of one of South Korea’s largest pharmaceutical firms, Celltrion, and the country’s second-richest man, is investing 300 billion won (S $ 368 million) into producing a treatment. of antibodies that will complement the Covid-19 vaccines. Celltrion is also South Korea’s largest distributor of biological medicines worldwide.
With a view to offering affordable treatment, Seo, 63, has committed to providing Celltrion’s Covid-19 drug, which will seek conditional approval later this month, at production costs in South Korea and at prices lower than competitors for the rest of the world.
“During a pandemic crisis, pharmaceutical companies must serve as public assets for the country,” Seo said.
Adar Poonawalla, billionaire CEO of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest producer of vaccines, has invested $ 250 million (S $ 333 million) from the family fortune to increase his company’s manufacturing capacity.
“I decided to do everything possible,” said Poonawalla, 39, who has vowed that his company’s Covid-19 vaccines will help supply low- and middle-income countries facing significant disadvantages in seeking to obtain them.
Serum Institute is also developing its own vaccine.
In the big picture of ending the pandemic, common purposes are key. Asian STs of the year have led the way, as have many other individuals in their own fields. When an end is looming, it is due in large part to these individuals who, undeterred by the tumult, have engaged in the sobering and much-needed work of crafting a crisis exit plan for humanity.
Ms Bhagyashree Garekar, ST foreign editor, said: “There has not been a day this year that the pandemic has not made the news. The ST editors felt that there could be no more audiences this year than the people who face Asia’s largest event, Health Challenge, engaged in pioneering and courageous efforts to prevent the highly contagious virus from causing further damage.
“In a year ending with a desire for big restarts … Asia’s virus hunters are the face of hope on the horizon.”
Previous Winners of The Straits Times Asian of the Year Award
2012
Myanmar President Thein Sein
2013
Chinese President Xi Jinping and then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
2014
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
2015
Founding Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew (awarded posthumously)
2016
“The Disruptors”: Co-founders Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling, Co-founders of Flipkart Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, Founder and CEO of Gojek Nadiem Makarim, Founder of Tencent Holdings Pony Ma and Co-Founder of Razer Tan Min-Liang
2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping
2018
“First Responders”: Singaporean paraglider Ng Kok Choong (posthumously awarded), Indian Navy helicopter pilots P. Rajkumar and Vijay Varma, spokesperson for Indonesia’s national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, Mercy Relief Singapore and Jakarta-based Asean Humanitarian Coordination Center Disaster Management Assistance
2019
Indonesian President Joko Widodo
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