Pharma chiefs see coronavirus vaccine by year-end, but challenges 'daunting'
Source:AFP Published: 2020/5/31 18:33:41
Pharmaceutical company executives said Thursday that one or several COVID-19 vaccines could begin rolling out before 2021, but warned the challenges would be "daunting" as it was estimated that 15 billion doses would be needed to halt the pandemic.
"The hope of many people is that we will have a vaccine, hopefully several, by the end of this year," Pascal Soriot, head of AstraZeneca, told a virtual briefing.
His company is partnering with the University of Oxford to develop and distribute a vaccine being trialed in Britain.
Albert Bourla, head of Pfizer, meanwhile said that his company, which is conducting clinical trials with German firm Biontech on several possible vaccines in Europe and the US, also believed one would be ready before the end of the year. "If things go well, and the stars are aligned, we will have enough evidence of safety and efficacy so that we can... have a vaccine around the end of October," he said.
It can take years for a new vaccine to be licensed for general use, but in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, experimental vaccines shown to be safe and effective against the novel coronavirus could likely win approval for emergency use.
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), which organized Thursday's briefing, highlighted the "daunting" challenges facing the industry in the push for a vaccine.
One challenge, which may seem counterintuitive, is that transmission rates are rapidly declining in Europe where some of the trials are taking place.
Soon they will be too low to properly conduct clinical vaccine trials in a natural setting, Soriot said, adding that so-called human challenge studies in which people are intentionally exposed to the virus to test efficacy, were not considered ethically acceptable with COVID-19. "We are running against time," he said.
IFPMA director Thomas Cueni pointed to estimates that the world will need some 15 billion doses to stop the virus, posing massive logistical challenges.
He acknowledged that "we will not have sufficient quantities as from day one, even with the best efforts."
Newspaper headline: 100+ global labs scramble for cure
A staff member displays samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at Sinovac Biotech Ltd., in Beijing, capital of China, March 16. Photo: Xinhua
Well over 100 labs around the world are scrambling to come up with a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, including 10 that have made it to the clinical trial stage."The hope of many people is that we will have a vaccine, hopefully several, by the end of this year," Pascal Soriot, head of AstraZeneca, told a virtual briefing.
His company is partnering with the University of Oxford to develop and distribute a vaccine being trialed in Britain.
Albert Bourla, head of Pfizer, meanwhile said that his company, which is conducting clinical trials with German firm Biontech on several possible vaccines in Europe and the US, also believed one would be ready before the end of the year. "If things go well, and the stars are aligned, we will have enough evidence of safety and efficacy so that we can... have a vaccine around the end of October," he said.
It can take years for a new vaccine to be licensed for general use, but in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, experimental vaccines shown to be safe and effective against the novel coronavirus could likely win approval for emergency use.
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), which organized Thursday's briefing, highlighted the "daunting" challenges facing the industry in the push for a vaccine.
One challenge, which may seem counterintuitive, is that transmission rates are rapidly declining in Europe where some of the trials are taking place.
Soon they will be too low to properly conduct clinical vaccine trials in a natural setting, Soriot said, adding that so-called human challenge studies in which people are intentionally exposed to the virus to test efficacy, were not considered ethically acceptable with COVID-19. "We are running against time," he said.
IFPMA director Thomas Cueni pointed to estimates that the world will need some 15 billion doses to stop the virus, posing massive logistical challenges.
He acknowledged that "we will not have sufficient quantities as from day one, even with the best efforts."
Newspaper headline: 100+ global labs scramble for cure
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