Good Day BIO: COVAX Marketplace will boost global vaccine production

The effort to vaccinate the world against COVID got a shot in the arm last week with the launch of the new COVAX Marketplace, a platform designed to support global supply chains for production of COVID-19 vaccines. 

The COVAX Marketplace is a deliverable of the COVAX Manufacturing Task Force, of which BIO is a proud partner. The platform:

• Helps suppliers allocate and reallocate unused materials.
• Mobilizes idle stock from vaccines and candidates that did not get regulatory approval, as well as from manufacturers who plan to scale down production.
• Mobilizes potential surplus stock from manufacturers producing less-urgently needed drugs using materials essential to COVID vaccine production. 

The COVAX Marketplace provides a secure platform where vaccine manufacturers and their suppliers can confidentially indicate needs or available supplies. The facilitator, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), connects offers and requests, prioritizing vaccines with WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL) and manufacturers that have agreements with COVAX. 

Participants can request or offer any materials related to vaccine production, but the initial focus is on six critical categories: bioreactor bags, single-use assemblies, cell culture media, filters, lipids, vials, and stoppers, according to the COVAX Marketplace website. 

Meanwhile, partnerships continue to be formed to boost global production and distribution. Pfizer-BioNTech has partnered with South Africa’s Biovac Institute to manufacture 100 million doses per year for the African Union, Reuters reported yesterday. 

The details: Pfizer-BioNTech will handle “complicated processes of mRNA drug substance production” at their facilities in Europe, while Biovac will handle “final stages of manufacturing where the product is processed and put into vials.”

This is the latest among more than 250 partnerships that have been formed to build global vaccine manufacturing capacity—read more about what BIO members are doing and why IP isn’t the problem.

Listen: BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath spoke with CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett about the importance of getting everyone vaccinated on the I am BIO Podcast.

More Health Care News: 

AZ Tech Beat: Arizona’s biotech community opposes waiving intellectual property rights of COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s what you need to know
“‘Once you give away that technology, you can’t get it back,’ [AZBio President and CEO Joan] Koerber-Walker said in an interview with AZ Tech Beat. ‘When we look at it from that perspective, it starts to set a very, very dangerous precedent.’”

Biotech has an important role to play in solving the climate crisis—and one of BIO’s priorities is ensuring policy supports the development and uptake of biobased climate solutions. To drive these goals forward, BIO has promoted Sarah Gallo to Vice President, Agriculture and Environment, a member of the BIO leadership team.

In her new role, Sarah Gallo will lead policy and market access strategies for BIO’s Agriculture and Environment Section, which focuses on the role biotechnology plays in protecting our planet’s resources, driving a strong economy, and improving people’s lives with solutions derived from nature. 

These companies are driving food and farm innovation, biobased manufacturing, and cleaner energy—developing technologies ranging from low-carbon fuels, to crops that are more nutritious and resilient in the face of extreme weather and disease, to more sustainable household cleaners, beauty products, and clothing.

“Throughout BIO’s restructure, Sarah’s leadership has been instrumental in uniting our agriculture and environment companies and distilling their priorities into BIO’s mission,” said BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath. “These companies are creating breakthroughs that will be essential to the future of our society, and I look forward to watching BIO’s Agriculture and Environment Section grow under her leadership.” 

“I am excited to be taking on this challenge during a transformational time at BIO,” said Sarah, who joined BIO in 2018. “Our members are creating some of the most compelling breakthroughs of our generation, which will help to address global challenges like climate change and access to nutritious, healthy food.”

At BIO, Sarah has spearheaded initiatives on transparency and public awareness. She has deep expertise in agriculture, having worked in government affairs and public policy for CHS, Inc., and the National Corn Growers Association, as well as serving as agriculture counsel for the U.S. House Committee on Small Business.

More Agriculture and Environment News:

Reuters: White House delays biofuel mandates due to political concerns
“The White House has delayed an annual process meant to decide how much ethanol and other biofuels U.S. oil refiners need to blend into their fuel each year, as it seeks a solution for an issue that pits refinery workers against corn farmers, two sources familiar with the matter said.”

On Wednesday, July 28 at 1:00 PM ET, BIO will hold a webinar, Trade Secrets: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure. 

Sponsored by Venable LLP, the panel of experts will provide information on preventative measures to protect trade secrets and to minimize allegations of trade secret misappropriation, including: identifying and managing trade secrets; employee agreements, policies, training and separation procedures; disclosure of trade secrets to others; and managing third-party trade secrets. 

This webinar is free for BIO members—register today!

President Biden’s Thursday: Receiving a briefing from the White House COVID-19 Response Team. During yesterday’s CNN Town Hall meeting, Biden said he expects the FDA to give full approval for COVID vaccines “sometime maybe in the beginning of the school year, at the end of August, beginning of September, October.”

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss legislation impacting the pharma industry: S. 1425: “Stop STALLING Act” (regulating petitions on approval of generic drugs or biosimilars); S. 1428: “Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act”; S. 1388: “Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2021”; S. 1435: “Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2021.” The House is quiet today. ICYMI: bipartisan U.S. Senators introduced legislation Tuesday “that would eliminate a national mandate requiring oil refiners to blend corn-based ethanol into their fuel mix,” reports Reuters.