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The Biden administration and COVID-19 vaccine producers are actively discussing ways to increase manufacturing over the coming months, including teaming up with other pharmaceutical companies to help bottle the vaccine for release. distribution.
According to two people familiar with those conversations, Biden’s team has been in talks with several companies to step in to help with filling and finishing – the act of filling vials with vaccine – part of the vaccine manufacturing process. Several of these companies have become pioneers and an announcement could be made in the coming days, the sources said.
When asked about conversations about the manufacturing partnership, one person working with the Biden COVID-19 team said “all options are on the table.”
Similar partnerships have already been concluded in Europe. Last week, Sanofi announced that it had signed an agreement with Pfizer to bottle its vaccine and that 100 million doses would be available across the European Union by the end of the year. Sanofi is trying to develop its own COVID-19 vaccine with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In December, the companies said the vaccine would be delayed after disappointing results in its older patients in clinical trials. “We asked ourselves how we could make ourselves useful in the present, to be part of the collective effort to end this crisis as quickly as possible,” said Paul Hudson, CEO of Sanofi. Le Figaro. Politico provided a translation of the interview.
Merck also announced last week that it would stop developing its two COVID-19 vaccine candidates, citing inadequate immune responses. Earlier this month, the company announced the acquisition of AmpTec to expand its mRNA capabilities.
Discussions of increased manufacturing in the United States come at a time as the Biden administration is working to increase vaccine supply to meet growing demand for the vaccine. The partnership would ensure states across the country get the doses they need once the general population becomes eligible for vaccination.
In recent weeks, states have reported supply shortages, saying they don’t have enough doses to distribute to everyone who has scheduled immunization appointments. At the same time, however, federal data shows that states have yet to administer all of the doses assigned and distributed to them. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) vaccine tracking shows that nearly 50 million doses have been dispensed but only 31 million have been administered. U.S. officials told the Daily Beast last week that they believe millions of doses are still being lost in the distribution system.
“We believe that some healthcare professionals routinely withhold doses that are meant to be first doses and store them instead as second-dose stores. We understand why, but it doesn’t need to happen and shouldn’t happen, ”Andy Slavitt, senior advisor to Biden’s COVID-19 team, told reporters on Monday.
The Biden administration announced last week that it was trying to buy an additional 200 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna to ensure that 300 million Americans are vaccinated before the end of the summer. . It was not immediately clear how or if these companies had taken steps to expand manufacturing beyond their current capabilities.
Last week, Johnson and Johnson and Novavax released their COVID-19 data. Novavax reported that data from its Phase 3 trial showed the vaccine to be around 90% effective. Johnson and Johnson said their data showed the vaccine was only 66% effective in protecting against the virus, but 85% effective against serious illness. Data from both companies shows vaccines are less effective against the South African variant of COVID-19. Johnson and Johnson plans to submit an emergency use authorization application to the Federal Drug Administration. Approval of this vaccine would help increase vaccine supply over the coming months.
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