As governments, biopharmaceutical companies, academia, and international organizations work together to produce 11 billion doses by the end of the year, the industry is setting its sights beyond current research and development.
The emergence of new variants that diminish the monumental achievements in recent months push the industry to drive further innovation. Some changes to the coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) explained, may affect the virus’ properties such as how it easily spreads, the disease severity, or the efficacy of vaccines, therapeutic medicines, diagnostic tools, or other public health interventions.
Variants of concern, for example, are the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants. As of July, all these variants of concern are present in the country as reported by the Philippine Genome Center, while the rest of Southeast Asia has become an epicenter of the pandemic. These developments demonstrate that no one can rest on their laurels, and that innovation must once again take center stage.
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) said that most vaccine manufacturers expect to have a newly developed booster vaccine ready by the end of 2021, another fearless forecast in the name of public health.
Vaccine manufacturers are aiming at a booster shot specifically to tame the highly transmissible Delta variant and other emerging variants of concern. Meanwhile, another manufacturer is testing whether booster shots can be administered using smaller dosage levels. Booster shots in smaller dosage would allow for faster and cost-effective vaccine production.
Innovations must also go beyond vaccines. In search for potential treatments, the industry found dexamethasone, as well as others that were initially developed to treat the Ebola virus (Remdesivir) or arthritis (Tocilizumab), as bringing hope to patients around the world. At the moment, there are ongoing research and development involving monoclonal antibody cocktails, new antivirals and anti-inflammatory antibodies to treat COVID-19.
IFPMA Director General Dr. Thomas B. Cueni emphasized the need for innovation to improve the way we could respond to the current and future pandemics: “Imagine if scientists invented a COVID-19 vaccine that can be given orally, without the need of a cold chain. Or a simple COVID-19 pill to take as soon as the first symptoms appear. Or imagine future generations facing a pandemic and a vaccine or cure can be developed within 100 days. That might seem far-fetched, but these are things that the biopharmaceutical industry can and should strive for. This is what innovation is about — making the impossible possible.”
Remember that in March 2020, the WHO rang the bell loud and clear: It warned that the world would confront a first-of-its kind pandemic due to its origins — a novel coronavirus.
Way back then, the international health organization reminded the public that the word “pandemic” must not be used lightly or carelessly. WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said that “pandemic” is a word which could cause unreasonable fear or signal an unjustified acceptance that nothing else could be done. Now, pandemic has become a word too familiar and one which has enormously changed the way we live.
With this, the WHO called for a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach founded on a strategy to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and save lives. The strategy is composed of four key areas: prepare and be ready; detect, protect, and treat; reduce transmission; and innovate and learn.
The biopharmaceutical industry responded swiftly by leading the way in developing and manufacturing vaccines and therapeutics. The industry immediately screened its vast medicine libraries to identify and repurpose existing and test new treatments. It reviewed its massive portfolio having gained experience in developing ways to fight infectious diseases head on. Its decades of work and partnerships in battling MERS, SARS, Ebola and influenza allowed the industry to respond quickly like never before.
In March 2020, the industry, including the team at PHAP, publicly expressed hopes that a COVID-19 vaccine would be developed by year-end. It was a fearless forecast, knowing fully well the complex and long journey of a vaccine. The industry delivered on its promise and hasn’t stopped innovating.
Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP). PHAP represents the biopharmaceutical medicines and vaccines industry in the country. Its members are at the forefront of research and development efforts for COVID-19 and other diseases that affect Filipinos.