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MANCHESTER: The great COVID-19 vaccine race is on.
Pharmaceutical companies around the world go head-to-head, while governments scramble to gain priority access to the most promising candidates.
But the richest-take-all approach in the fight against the deadliest pandemic in living memory will undoubtedly backfire, especially to the recovery of low- and middle-income countries.
If governments cannot come together to agree on a global strategy, then the global south may need to pin its hopes on the manufacturing power of India.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, warned that a nationalist approach “will not help” and will slow down the global recovery.
However, vaccine nationalism looms large in the search for vaccines, with the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission signing several advance purchase agreements with manufacturers to ensure privileged access to doses for the most popular candidates. promising.
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The United States alone has paid more than $ 10 billion for such access.
The ideal global distribution of a successful COVID-19 vaccine would look beyond which countries have the deepest pockets and instead prioritize healthcare workers, followed by countries with major outbreaks and then people who are particularly in the dark. risk.
INDIA HAS MASS PRODUCTION CAPACITY
India has the potential to play a key role in overcoming vaccine nationalism because it is the leading drug supplier to the global south. Médecins Sans Frontières once dubbed the country the “pharmacy of the world”.
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a small bottle labeled “COVID-19 Vaccine” and a medical syringe in this illustration taken on April 10, 2020. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
India also has by far the largest capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines. Its role in making a vaccine could come in two different guises: mass producing one developed elsewhere (probably) or developing a new vaccine and manufacturing it (less likely, though not impossible).
The Serum Institute of India has already started manufacturing the Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccine candidate before clinical trials have been completed. This is to avoid any later delay if the vaccine is approved. Many, including the WHO chief scientist, consider it the leading global perspective.
Based in the western city of Pune, the Serum Institute is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer and has an agreement to supply 400 million doses by the end of 2020 (1 billion in total). It has also signed an agreement for the manufacture and commercialization of the COVID-19 candidate from the US firm Novavax.
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Another Indian pharmaceutical company, Biological E (BE), agreed to manufacture the candidate vaccine for Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. Since then, the Hyderabad-based firm announced the acquisition of Akorn India to increase its manufacturing capacity.
Despite India’s success in mass manufacturing, the transition to innovation and new product development has been more difficult. However, the Serum Institute, Aurobindo Pharma, Bharat Biotech, BE, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax, Panacea Biotech, and Zydus Cadila are trying to develop their own vaccines.
Covaxin from Bharat Biotech has attracted the most attention and controversy. The Indian Council for Medical Research wrote to several hospitals seeking their help in accelerating clinical trials of the drug, which was developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology.
The goal had been to launch it before August 15 (India’s Independence Day). Although the feasibility of that timeline is widely questioned, Covaxin’s trials began in Delhi on July 15.
FILE PHOTO: A sign marks the headquarters of Moderna Therapeutics, which is developing a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, May 18, 2020. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
VACCINE DIPLOMACY: WHO GETS IT?
There is uncertainty about who will get these Indian-made vaccines, and there have been very mixed messages. Regarding the highly publicized Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, Adar Poonawalla, executive director of the Serum Institute, said that “most of the vaccine, at least initially, would have to go to our compatriots before going abroad.”
He added that the Indian government would decide how much other countries would receive and when. In a later interview, the CEO went further and added: “Of everything I produce, 50 percent for India and 50 percent for the rest of the world.”
He also said that the Indian government had not opposed this idea. Vaccine diplomacy may come into play, as Indian Foreign Minister Harsh Shringla indicated on a visit to Dhaka.
He promised that India would supply vaccines to Bangladesh on a “priority basis”, stating that India’s “closest neighbors, friends, partners and other countries” will receive privileged access.
DISTRIBUTION TO LOW AND MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES
Meanwhile, a recent agreement provided stronger assurance that the vaccines produced by the Serum-Institute will be supplied outside the country, at least in 2021. On August 7, Gavi (the global vaccine alliance) announced a collaboration with the Serum-Institute Institute and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The agreement provides financial support worth $ 150 million for the Serum Institute to manufacture and supply 100 million doses of vaccines to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) for distribution in low- and middle-income countries in 2021. .
The agreement will support the company’s manufacturing of candidates AstraZeneca and Novavax and guarantees a price of US $ 3 per dose. The AstraZeneca candidate will be available for 57 Gavi-eligible countries, while the Novavax treatment will be available for 92.
A relative wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) adjusts his protective face shield prior to the cremation of a man who died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, on August 22, 2020. REUTERS / Adnan Abidi
With nearly 18 percent of the world’s population, India has a strong demand for COVID-19 vaccines. Export bans on some key personal protective equipment and medicines in March set a precedent for prioritizing supply to India first. But the bans were short-lived and exports continued.
Thanks to its vast manufacturing capacity, India will undoubtedly export vaccines, continuing its role as “pharmacy of the developing world”.
Vinod Paul, Chairman of India’s National COVID-19 Task Force, has spoken openly of his wish for India to play a global role, saying: “The vaccine is not just for India and Indians, but for the world. and humanity. ”
The question is when. To be sure, many in low- and middle-income countries hope it will be sooner rather than later.
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Rory Horner is Senior Lecturer at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. This comment first appeared on The Conversation.
