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BERLIN: BioNTech is working closely with its partner Pfizer to boost production of its COVID-19 vaccine, its founders said, warning that there will be gaps in supply until other vaccines are implemented.
The German biotech startup has led the vaccine race, but its injection has been slow to reach the European Union (EU) due to relatively slow approval from the bloc’s health regulator and the small size of the order placed by Brussels.
The delays have caused consternation in Germany, where some regions had to temporarily close vaccination centers days after launching an inoculation campaign on December 27.
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“Right now it doesn’t look good, a hole is popping because other approved vaccines are missing and we have to fill the gap with our own vaccine,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told the news weekly Spiegel in an interview.
A Moderna shot is expected to be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on January 6.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn has urged the EMA to also swiftly approve a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca that Britain approved this week. The EU timeline for such treatment remains uncertain.
Sahin said the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine, which uses messenger RNA to instruct the human immune system to fight the coronavirus, should be able to cope with a variant first detected in Britain that appears to be more contagious.
“We are testing whether our vaccine can also neutralize this variant and we will know more soon,” he said.
When asked about how to deal with a strong mutation, he said it would be possible to modify the vaccine as needed within six weeks, although these new treatments might require additional regulatory approvals.
NEW PLANNED PRODUCTION LINE
Sahin founded BioNTech with his wife, Oezlem Tuereci, who is the company’s chief medical officer. They both criticized the EU’s decision to broadcast the requests in the expectation that more vaccines would be approved quickly.
The United States ordered 600 million doses of the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine in July, while the EU waited until November to order half that size.
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“At some point it became clear that it would not be possible to deliver that fast,” Tuereci told Spiegel. “By then it was too late to place further orders.”
BioNTech expects to launch a new production line in Marburg, Germany, in February that could produce 250 million doses in the first half of the year, Sahin said.
Talks are underway with contracted manufacturers to boost production and there should be more clarity by the end of January, he added.
Sahin also said that BioNTech would make their vaccine, which requires storage at around minus 70 degrees Celsius, easier to handle. A next-generation vaccine that would be kept at higher temperatures could be ready by late summer.
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