The Biden administration and COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers are actively discussing ways to increase production over the next few months, including partnering with additional pharmaceutical companies to help bottle the vaccine for distribution.
According to two individuals familiar with these conversations, the Biden team held talks with several companies about the intervention to help fill and finish – the act of filling the vials with vaccine – the portion of the vaccine manufacturing process. Several of these companies have emerged as leaders and an announcement could be made in the coming days, these sources said.
Asked about the production partnership talks, a person working with the Biden COVID-19 team said that “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 for the bottling of the vaccine and that 100 million doses would be available throughout the European Union by the end of the year. Sanofi is trying to develop its own COVID-19 vaccine with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In December, companies said the vaccine would be delayed after disappointing results in patients with older clinical trials. “We have wondered how we can make it useful today to participate in the collective effort to end this crisis as soon as possible,” said Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson. Le Figaro. Politico provided a translation of the interview.
Merck also announced last week that it would stop developing both candidates for the COVID-19 vaccine, citing inadequate immune responses. The company announced earlier this month the acquisition of AmpTec as a way to expand the company’s mRNA capabilities.
Discussions about increasing US production come at a time when the Biden administration is working to expand the supply of vaccines to meet growing demand for the vaccine. The partnership would ensure that countries across the country have the doses they need once the general population becomes eligible for vaccination.
In recent weeks, states have reported a lack of supply, saying they do not have enough doses to distribute to all those who have scheduled vaccination schedules. At the same time, however, federal data show that states have not yet administered all the doses allocated and distributed to them. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has shown the vaccine shows that nearly 50 million doses have been distributed, but only 31 million have been administered. U.S. officials told The Daily Beast last week that they thought millions of doses were still lost in the distribution system.
“We believe that some healthcare providers regularly retain doses that are intended for the first dose and instead keep reserves for the second dose. We understand why, but it shouldn’t happen and it shouldn’t happen, “Andy Slavitt, chief adviser to Biden’s COVID-19 team, told reporters on Monday.
The Biden administration announced last week that it is in the process of trying to purchase another 200 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna as a way to ensure that 300 million Americans are vaccinated before the end of the summer. It was not immediately clear how or if those companies took steps to expand production beyond their current capabilities.
Last week Johnson and Johnson and Novavax released their COVID-19 data. Novavax reported that its data from phase 3 studies showed that the vaccine is approximately 90% effective. Johnson and Johnson said their data showed that the vaccine is only 66% effective in protecting against the virus, but 85% is effective in preventing severe disease. Data from both companies show that vaccines are less effective against COVID-19 in South Africa. Johnson and Johnson intend to apply for emergency use authorization with the Federal Drug Administration. Approval of this vaccine would help increase the vaccine supply in the next few months.