Race to develop the Covid-19 vaccine: A billion-dollar war and national pride

The race to develop a vaccine against a pandemic of acute respiratory infections caused by a new strain of corona virus (Covid-19) is taking place increasingly fierce between the US, China and Europe.

Volunteers in Sao Paulo – Brazil in the Chinese company’s SinoVac vaccine testing program. Photo: REUTERS

Sweepstakes are not

Despite collaboration at many levels – including fiercely competitive companies, vaccine development efforts are being overshadowed by a potentially viable nationalist approach. The winner has the opportunity to gain an upper hand in dealing with the economic and geostrategic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis.

Behind this race is a stark truth: Any new vaccine that is proven to be effective against Covid-19 will inevitably “run out”, as governments are working hard to protect make sure people in their country get vaccinated first.

After nearly 6 months since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Covid-19 as an epidemic, President Donald Trump on August 3 announced that the US could successfully develop a vaccine before its target. at the end of this year or early 2021.

The statement was made not long after two pharmaceutical corporations Sanofi (France) and GlaxoSmithKline (UK) said they had reached a $ 2.1 billion agreement with the administration of President Donald Trump to produce and hand over. 100 million doses of vaccine. Of that amount, more than $ 1.5 billion will be used to support the vaccine development, including clinical trials. The rest of the money will be spent on production and delivery. Under the contract, the administration of President Donald Trump has the right to order an additional 500 million doses to be produced. This is part of the White House’s “Operation Warp Speed” to speed up development of the Covid-19 vaccine.

“The demand for Covid-19 vaccine in the world is very high at present. No vaccine or company can meet it” – Sanofi Executive Vice President Thomas Triomphe confirmed.

Because of the severity of Covid-19, US officials and researchers have accelerated the development of vaccine candidates by investing in multiple research phases, despite their efforts may become. is useless if the selected vaccine does not give the desired results.

Russian scientists at the Biotechnology Company BIOCAD in Saint Petersburg prepare a sample during the development of the Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: REUTERS

Russian vaccine registration from 12-8?

Chinese media announced last month that a vaccine developed by the CanSino Biologics Company was used to vaccinate the Chinese military. The country’s two other companies, Sinovac and Sinopharm, are also conducting the final test phase, respectively, in Brazil and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Earlier, as soon as German media reported that the administration of President Donald Trump was trying to persuade CureVac Company (Germany) to research and develop vaccines in the US, the European Commission (EC) pledged to give more $ 85 million for this company. On the same day, a Chinese company offered to spend $ 133.3 million to buy a stake alongside other offers to BioNTech (Germany), after the company entered the race to develop vaccines. “China will not be slower than other countries,” said biological product quality control expert Wang Junzhi, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Meanwhile, a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination campaign in October is being prepared in Russia, after Health Minister Mikhail Murashko on August 1 announced that the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow had completed the trial. the vaccine is being developed by them and is preparing to register it with the Ministry of Health. Moscow confirmed that the research results showed immune responses in all subjects and without any side effects or complications.

On August 3, Russian Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov told TASS news agency that Russia had planned to produce millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccine. This ambition could make Russia the first country in the world to vaccinate Covid-19 to its people, a milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

However, leading US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has expressed doubts about both China and Russia Covid-19 vaccines, asserting that his country will not use them because of safety concerns. full. The statement came shortly after the US Justice Department accused two Chinese citizens, whom they claimed to work for Beijing, stealing trade secrets and cyber-attacks against computer systems. Vaccine research firm Covid-19 calculation.

According to the indictment, the two people mentioned above, Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, have been running a global cyberattack campaign for more than 10 years. Recently, Beijing-Washington tensions continued to escalate, after an unnamed US security official revealed to Reuters that a Chinese government-backed hacker attempted to steal vaccine data. Covid-19 of the Company Moderna Biotechnology (USA). In a statement in response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the allegations were “slander”.