Bottlenecks and nationalism threaten vaccine production

Moderna Inc. Yes GlaxoSmithKline Plc are part of a group of drugs What called on countries to remove trade barriers related to COVID-19 vaccines before the aggravation of a shortage world of commodities needed to manufacture vaccines.

Industry stresses the world needs more raw materials, including lipids used in messenger RNA vaccines, tubes and plastic bags, according to a press conference on COVID-19 vaccine production on Friday. by the International Federation of Manufacturers and Pharmaceutical Associations. Panelists criticized the use of the U.S. Defense Production Act to protect U.S. supplies as it compounds the problem.

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Vaccine production depends on the availability of more than 100 components and ingredients. As the industry prepares to manufacture up to 10 billion doses this year, rising nationalism threatens the plans, drugmakers and trade groups have warned.. The administration of US President Joe Biden is evaluating a call by Progressive Democrats to speed up global access to covid-19 vaccines.

Besides bottlenecks in the supply of raw materials, the industry is also struggling to find enough qualified people to increase production.

“We all operate and manufacture sterile products. This means they need to be achieved at the highest level, ”said Roger Connor, President of Glaxo for Global Vaccines and Senior Vaccine Representative for the Center for Global Access to Covid-19 Vaccines (Center for Global Access to Covid-19 Vaccines) initiative. designed to level global access. “Understanding infertility and understanding the process is not something that can suddenly be recycled overnight.”

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Finding enough qualified people is a problem Moderna has faced in recent weeks, according to Stéphane Bancel, the company’s chief executive, who was also on the panel on Friday. Moderna said last week it would deliver fewer vaccines than expected to the UK, Canada and other countries this quarter due to a lack of doses in its supply chain.

The company works with a Swiss partner. Lonza Group AG to manufacture the vaccines in Europe, which had some understaffing issues, Bancel said.

“We actually had some delays in hiring people at Lonza,” Bancel said. “I know the teams are working very hard to close this gap and make sure we can maximize every dose we can do. But that’s why in some countries there have been delays in the last two weeks. “

RM CP