Your COVID vaccine questions, answered

BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath appeared on MSNBC yesterday for a quick hit with some important updates on vaccine R&D and timelines.

To catch you up, in just 24 weeks, the biotech industry has started more than 635 projects specifically aimed at fighting COVID-19—135 of which are aimed at generating a vaccine, said Dr. McMurry-Heath. 

How do we know that a vaccine developed so quickly will be safe and effective? “Just because this progress has been fast and fruitful doesn’t mean corners have been cut. This progress has come because there has been unprecedented cooperation,” she said. 

What about FDA approval? “I used to work at the Food and Drug Administration, and I know firsthand that agency does not cut corners when it comes to making sure that the products that come to market are safe and effective,” she continued.

Ok, so really, when can we expect a vaccine? The virus is not mutating quickly, so it’s letting scientists catch up, she said—and she’s confident that “by this time in the spring of next year,” we’ll be talking about successful vaccines.

And will there be enough for everyone? The biotech industry is not just working on how to make a vaccine, but also “what’s needed to manufacture these vaccines at scale” to make sure we have enough when a vaccine is approved. 

Another take:Speaking on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, Dr. Jeremy Levin, BIO Chairman and CEO of Ovid Therapeutics, said “we will definitely know” within six months if we have an effective vaccine, and then we need to look at developing the manufacturing capacity to deliver hundreds of millions of doses. (And he’s confident we’ll deliver.)

The bottom line: “We’re talking about a process that’s going to take some time, but that shows great promise,” said Dr. McMurry-Heath. 

You know you want to know more. Dr. Levin’s new book, Biotechnology in the Time of COVID-19, has thoughts from 27 biotech industry leaders on how they are approaching the pandemic—and it’s available now via Amazon.

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