Berlin:
BioNTech is working flat out with companion Pfizer to increase production of their COVID-19 vaccine, its founders stated, warning there would be gaps in provide till other vaccines have been rolled out.
The German biotech startup has led the vaccine race but its shot has been slow to arrive in the European Union due to comparatively slow approval from the bloc’s well being regulator and the little size of the order placed by Brussels.
The delays have triggered consternation in Germany, exactly where some regions had to temporarily close vaccination centres days right after the launch of an inoculation drive on December 27.
“At the moment it doesn’t look good – a hole is appearing because there’s a lack of other approved vaccines and we have to fill the gap with our own vaccine,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told news weekly Spiegel in an interview.
A shot from Moderna is anticipated to be cleared by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on January 6.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn has urged the EMA to also immediately approve a vaccine created by Oxford University and AstraZeneca that Britain cleared this week. The EU timeline for that remedy remains uncertain.
Sahin stated the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, which utilizes messenger RNA to instruct the human immune technique to fight the coronavirus, need to be capable to cope with a variant 1st detected in Britain that seems to be more contagious.
“We are testing whether our vaccine can also neutralise this variant, and will soon know more,” he stated.
Asked about coping with a robust mutation, he stated it would be probable to tweak the vaccine as necessary inside six weeks – even though such new treatment options could call for more regulatory approvals.
New production line planned
Sahin founded BioNTech with his wife, Oezlem Tuereci, who is the company’s chief healthcare officer. Both faulted the EU’s choice to spread orders in the expectation that more vaccines would be immediately authorized.
The United States ordered 600 million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine in July, though the EU waited till November to spot an order of half that size.
“At some point it became clear that it would not be possible to deliver so quickly,” Tuereci told Spiegel. “By then it was already too late to place follow-on orders.”
BioNTech hopes to launch a new production line in Marburg, Germany, in February that could make 250 million doses in the 1st half of the year, stated Sahin.
Talks are beneath way with contract suppliers on boosting output and there need to be higher clarity by the finish of January, he added.
Sahin also stated BioNTech would make its vaccine, which demands storage at about minus 70 Celsius (minus 94 Fahrenheit), much easier to deal with. A subsequent-generation vaccine that would maintain at greater temperatures could be prepared by late summer season.
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