How India and Singapore are contributing to the COVID-19 vaccine race

Some statisticians say the number of cases could be at least 5-20 times higher due to inconsistencies and variations in testing and test protocols in different countries. In a paper published by Imperial College London, COVID-19 (New Coronavirus Infection) (# If there is no character limit, add parentheses when first appearing As of March 30, the UK had a population of 800,000 to 3.7 million. The official number of cases at that time was 22,141. Even the more conservative actual estimate of 800,000 is 36 times higher than the reported number.

Without a vaccine and effective treatment, we cannot regain our lives as we used to.

They are gradually beginning to resume their economies as new cases in the US and Europe are declining.

Singapore began resuming some limited business and social activities prior to the end of the official “Circuit Breaker” on June 1. However, the lockdown rules are not suddenly relaxed that day. Go back to the normal way that the government will take months.

One of the activities that did not stop during the lockdown was the search for vaccines in the city-state, a major regional center of medical research.

Singapore first participated in an international clinical trial of the Gilead Sciences drug lemdecivir, which was developed to treat Ebola. About 100 patients in Singapore were registered with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and participated in an international study involving about 1,000 patients worldwide. The study showed that lemdecivir significantly improved the prospect of recovery for COVID-19 patients.

Singaporean biotechnology company Tychan is working with the Singapore Agency for Science and Technology (A * STAR) to develop Japanese Chugai and monoclonal antibody drugs.

Monoclonal antibody drugs work by using plasma drawn from blood collected from COVID-19 patients to prevent it from binding to viral proteins and invading human cells. It can be used for both prevention and treatment. Prophylactic drugs are a group of drugs, not vaccines. It can be used to prevent high-risk individuals, such as frontline medical staff, from getting the virus.

For vaccines, Singapore Duke NUS Medical School is working with Arcturus Therapeutics to develop an mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccine that has been shown to be highly effective in preclinical studies.

RNA vaccines use a relatively new technology that works by introducing RNA with specific information into the human body, producing antigens (proteins from pathogens) and stimulating the immune system to fight disease.

Another biotechnology company in Singapore, Esco Aster, is developing a chimera vaccine With US company Vivaldi Biosciences. Chimeric vaccines work by replacing genes from target pathogens with similar but safe genes from closely related organisms.

A unique feature of the vaccine Esco Aster is working on is that the vaccine is based on a protein backbone. It is structured so that researchers can react to the virus if they mutate it by modifying the vaccine within a few weeks. Esco Aster says that once the vaccine has passed all the necessary tests and approvals, it can quickly scale up production.

However, none of the vaccines under development in Singapore are expected to win the race of being the first vaccine in the market. To be successful, no biotech company needs to hit the market first. What matters is a combination of how quickly a safe and approved vaccine can be developed, the speed with which facilities can be built to mass-produce the vaccine, and then how much of that vaccine can be manufactured and distributed.

Based in Pune, India, the Serology Laboratory is not only India’s largest biotechnology company, but also one of the largest in the world. It is capable of producing 1.5 billion doses of vaccine per year. We are currently working on three projects to produce the COVID-19 vaccine. We are also working on Oxford University in the UK, Codagenix, a biotechnology company based in the United States, and our own vaccine. To save time, part of the facility to be able to produce 20-40 million doses as of September, even if one or more of the vaccines at work are not successful or approved in clinical trials Take the risk of preparing. According to health authorities.

Normally, factories can be prepared to produce vaccines only after they have been approved, as the equipment and settings required to produce different vaccines can be quite different. This process can take 6 months or longer.

Keeping in mind that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding the factory to prepare seven vaccines in the hope that they will be ready for vaccines and save time and life. It is based on the concept of “parallel execution”.

The accelerated timeframe for producing a 12- to 18-month COVID-19 vaccine is being touted by pharmaceutical companies and some health authorities in a big way, especially in the United States, but even if it goes fast. , It takes 4 years to develop a vaccine. The rotavirus vaccine took 15 years from development to shipping.

According to a report from the New York Times in early May, at least 95 vaccine candidates and 254 treatments are being considered.

One company that has received considerable media attention is the US biotechnology company Moderna, whose initial success has allowed the US government to raise $ 500 million to help develop and test its vaccine candidates. Provided

Other vaccine candidates in the news are AstraZeneca’s cooperation with Oxford University and Chinese government-sponsored efforts by Chinese company Can Sino.

Many companies developing vaccines at the same time have a low success rate for vaccine development and are likely to be unable to meet the billions of vaccination demands needed to immunize the entire world. Is a good thing.

Investors betting on particular companies to significantly improve profits as a result of successful vaccine development should be aware that the road to vaccines is not paved with gold. Much of the ongoing research is funded by governments or organizations, promising that the final vaccine will be provided free or at low cost. For ethical reasons, some have decided to sell the vaccine just to cover the costs, at least in the early stages of the anticipated global COVID-19 vaccination.