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What drug federations say about Covid vaccines

3 years ago babelfish

What drug federations say about Covid vaccines

Covid vaccine numbers, trends and scenarios. Theses and proposals of the international federations of pharmaceutical companies

2021 is proving to be a crucial year for the fight against Covid-19 thanks to the production and dissemination of numerous vaccines.

By the end of 2021, 11 billion doses

In a few months, the production of vaccines has increased from zero to more than 2.2 billion doses which will be produced by the end of May 2021. By the end of the year, the doses will reach 11 billion doses . An amount sufficient to vaccinate the entire adult population of the world. The data is from Airfinity, a company that does predictive scientific analysis.

Airfinity in its analysis collected data on the annual production capacity declared by each vaccine manufacturing plant globally. The three main values ​​for each run are the company's declared output, observed actual output, and time-to-scale assumptions. When available, the production forecast is matched to the observed data and any discrepancies result in adjustments to the forecast model.

What is Airfinity

Airfinity is a scientific information and analysis company that works with pharmaceutical companies, governments, investors and the media. It deals with making predictive analyzes that allow policy makers to understand the implications of new scientific developments . Airfinity is based in London, where it was founded in 2015 by Rasmus Bech Hansen and Sacha Carton , experts in new media and technologies.

Unequal distribution

If vaccine doses would suffice for the entire population but currently do not reach all priority populations worldwide in the same way. “Manufacturers, governments and non-governmental organizations must work together to take urgent measures to further address this inequality – say the international federations of pharmaceutical companies -. Immediate action must focus on intensifying responsible dose sharing and maximizing production without compromising quality or safety ”.

The commitments of the drug federations

The international drug federations ( ABPI , BIO , EFPIA , IFPMA , PhRMA ), in order to remedy the unequal distribution of vaccine doses, have declared that they have made five commitments:

  • increase sharing of doses
  • continue to optimize production
  • identify trade barriers to be eliminated (such as those blocking supplies of essential materials)
  • collaborate with governments on the distribution of vaccines against covid
  • give further impetus to innovation

Scaccabarozzi: "Results achieved also thanks to intellectual property"

“Over 11 billion in the world. This is the expected number of doses of the Covid-19 vaccines that will be produced by 2021 – says the president of Farmindustria, Massimo Scaccabarozzi -. A number unthinkable for an unknown disease until just over a year ago. Yet today it represents a realistic goal to reach ”. President Scaccabarozzi focuses attention on the virtuous role played by intellectual property in achieving this goal. "If it has been possible to get to this point, it is thanks above all to the virtuous process of collaboration and partnership between the various health players in Italy, starting with the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, and at an international level in research and regulatory processes – continues Scaccabarozzi -. And also thanks to intellectual property . Without the boost to investment guaranteed by patents, today we would not be able to benefit from these tools, which are essential for overcoming the pandemic crisis and returning to a normal life ”. The new activism of the drug federations seems to go precisely in the direction of avoiding a liberalization of patents. “Now is the time to take a decisive step forward. And the 5 steps to ensure greater equity suggested by the international federations of biopharmaceutical companies go in that direction – concludes Scaccabarozzi -. We are ready to give our contribution and do our part alongside citizens and institutions ”.

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Press release of the International Federations of Pharmaceutical Companies – BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization), EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations), IFPMA (International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations), PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America), ABPI (Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry), ICBA (International Council of Biotechnology Associations), VE (Vaccines Europe) – entitled: " Five Steps to Promote Equity in COVID-19 Vaccines Now ".

Innovative vaccine manufacturers and biotech companies are at the forefront of the effort to develop and manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. This huge effort is being successful. After more than 200 clinical trials and nearly 300 partnerships and collaborations between manufacturers around the world, production increased in just a few months from zero to 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine at the end of May with an astounding 11 billions of doses by the end of 2021 ( Airfinity data ). An amount sufficient to vaccinate the adult population around the world.

Unfortunately, it should be noted that COVID-19 vaccines are not reaching all the populations of the world who would need them.

Manufacturers, governments and non-governmental organizations must work together to take urgent steps to further address this inequality. Immediate action must focus on increasing responsible dose sharing and maximizing production without compromising quality and safety.

To this end, innovative vaccine manufacturers and biotech companies are committed to:

INCREASE DOSAGE SHARING:

  • Work promptly with those governments that have significant internal stocks of COVID-19 vaccines to share significant portions of their doses with low- and middle-income countries in a responsible and timely manner through COVAX or other established and efficient channels;
  • Make every effort to make additional COVID-19 vaccine doses not yet assigned available to low- and lower-middle-income countries, through COVAX or other established and efficient channels.

CONTINUE TO OPTIMIZE PRODUCTION:

  • Make every possible effort to maximize the production of COVID-19 vaccines without compromising quality and safety, including through collaborations with partners who can produce significant quantities;
  • Work with governments and individual suppliers of raw materials and components to determine how to quickly and safely facilitate the necessary increase in COVID-19 vaccine production.

HIGHLIGHT THE TRADE BARRIERS TO BE ELIMINATED:

  • Identify trade barriers blocking supplies of essential materials and support the efforts of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to create an independent platform that identifies and addresses gaps in these supplies and facilitates voluntary partnerships for filling and packaging through the new COVAX Supply Chain and Manufacturing Task Force ;
  • Urge governments, in coordination with the World Trade Organization, to eliminate all trade and regulatory barriers to exports and to adopt policies that facilitate and speed up cross-border supplies of key raw materials, essential materials for production together with priority movement of workforce necessary for the production of vaccines against COVID-19.

SUPPORTING PREPARATION AT NATIONAL LEVEL:

  • Collaborate with governments on the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, especially in low- and lower-middle-income countries, to ensure they are ready and able to distribute available doses by the deadline;
  • Contain the risks to the production and distribution of other vaccines that remain essential to global public health.

GIVE A FURTHER IMPETUS TO INNOVATION:

  • Prioritize the development of new vaccines against COVID-19, including those effective against problematic variants;
  • Urge governments to ensure unhindered access to pathogens (e.g. samples and sequences) of any COVID-19 variant to support the development of new vaccines and therapies.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/che-cosa-dicono-le-federazioni-del-farmaco-sui-vaccini-anti-covid/ on Fri, 21 May 2021 06:50:19 +0000.