Profits and Pride at Stake, the Race for a Vaccine Intensifies

[ancianita]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: New York Times

Seven of the roughly 90 projects being pursued by governments, pharmaceutical makers, biotech innovators and academic laboratories have reached the stage of clinical trials. With political leaders — not least President Trump — increasingly pressing for progress, and with big potential profits at stake for the industry, drug makers and researchers have signaled that they are moving ahead at unheard-of speeds.

Some experts say the more immediately promising field might be the development of treatments to speed recovery from Covid-19, an approach that has generated some optimism in the last week through initially encouraging research results on remdesivir, an antiviral drug previously tried in fighting Ebola...The U.S. government is already warning that American innovations must be protected from theft — chiefly from Beijing.

“Biomedical research has long been a focus of theft, especially by the Chinese government, and vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus are today’s holy grail,” John C. Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, said on Friday. “Putting aside the commercial value, there would be great geopolitical significance to being the first to develop a treatment or vaccine. We will use all the tools we have to safeguard American research.”

“We are going to start ramping up production with the companies involved,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the federal government’s top expert on infectious diseases, said on NBC this week. “You don’t wait until you get an answer before you start manufacturing.”



Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/politics/vaccines-coronavirus-research.html

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Sunday's front page.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. "You don't wait until you get an answer before you start manufacturing."

Say what?

[ancianita]

2. He means extra manufacturing structure. Of course there's no vaccine "answer" yet, but the means

of mass production have to be in place.

[lark]

8. So many apocolyptic books start this way.

Government is rushing to create a vaccine for a killer bug, don't do sufficient testing (or bug mutates & gets out) before mass vaccinations and everyone dies/gets turned into zombies, etc. OK, those are books and this is reality, but we know for sure an insane murderer is at the top of the chain driving immediate access regardless of efficacy and regardless of its lethality. The drug he was promoting previously has been proven to double the death rate in CV19 patients due to exacerbated heart issues. We can't trust our government when it's no longer for us, but only for the ultra rw rich and is trying to kill everyone else - more SS money to steal, less resources needed, less people to vote against the fascist oligarchs.

Cleanse America, elect Biden.

[ancianita]

11. That's not what's happening in real life, though.

Look at these clinical trial charts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine

Life doesn't reflect apocalyptic books or movies. I do agree that we can't trust our government, but it's not THIS government that's doing the bulk of vaccine research.

Bill Gates, who is the opposite of Trump, works to accelerate vaccine development worldwide, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Funds that in a way Trump never could profit from. Gates won't let him, for one thing.

The best way to prevent an infectious disease is with a vaccine. And in 2017, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was created with nearly $650 million from Germany, Japan, Norway, Wellcome, and our foundation. Since then, others have come on board, including the UK, Canada, Ethiopia, Australia, Belgium, and the European Commission, to dramatically reduce the time it takes to develop vaccines for emerging epidemics, and ensure they are accessible, available, and affordable. The speed with which companies have begun working on a vaccine for COVID-19 is a result, in part, of CEPI.

https://www.gatesfoundation.org/TheOptimist/Articles/coronavirus-mark-suzman-therapeutics

[lark]

12. That it's not this government doing it makes me feel better.

However I still don't trust them to thoroughly vet the products produced here. Look what drumpf did with that malaria drug, touted a drug that kills at twice the rate as COVID in CV19 patients. That's really the worst thing that could reasonably happen, that the FDA approves a drug/vaccine due to being pushed and without conducting sufficient clinical trials because drumpf orders them to do this.

[ancianita]

13. Good. And you shouldn't trust our government; good researchers outnumber our govt's corrupt.

We need to keep that in mind and not let our doubts keep us from seeing more clearly.

Thank you for raising your points about who is not trustworthy.

I think Fauci will be the lead, regardless of Trump's stupidity, and the one vaccine developers go with.

Trump can't order how vaccines get trialed, produced and distributed. First of all, because most of the developers are private sector and not under a gutted FDA's purview, no matter what Trump tries through it. Secondly, because private sector foundations like Gates' will make sure the distribution lines are not tampered with.

I believe that any success they have in getting us vaccinated will be after the next Democratic administration is in office, no matter how much Trump tries to give himself for any of it later.

[gab13by13]

14. Bill Gates isn't superman,

didn't he screw up the Zika virus by releasing super mosquitoes that didn't work?

[ancianita]

17. What are you talking about. Name one funder of ANY public health funding who is better. Just one.

I don't know if he screwed up anything. Why don't you link it; that would at least help your claim a little.

The idea that that someone who TRIES to fix something dangerous, yet fails, still doesn't prove they made the dangerous MORE dangerous.

Until you prove otherwise, Bill Gates IS Superman.

[Igel]

9. It means they're going to be taking a risk.

It may pay off. In pride and profit, the important things. Maybe lives, too, but surely no researcher in the pharmaceutical business has ever cared about things like friends and family. (Snark at the OP's title, if it's not obvious.)

Before Remdesivir trial data was announced, Gideon was ramping up production.

Just like 3M, in late January, was ramping up production of N95 masks.

[EarthFirst]

3. Is the plan to weaponize the vaccine?

In an effort to blackmail the political and economic priorities of the United States upon the global community?

Sure sounds that way to me...

[ancianita]

7. I wouldn't characterize scientific research that way. I know we're at war, but that's not a

reasonable first take on vaccine development, imo.

[beachbumbob]

4. big money to made off the con job of vaccine development

[George II]

5. "Con job" of vaccine development?

[beachbumbob]

6. yep, $480 million given to a biotech outfit that has never developed anything before, figure

kickback to trumps in some manner

[ancianita]

10. Your one example shouldn't be used to imply that all vaccine researchers are corrupt.

There is serious work going on worldwide, and our corrupt president and senatorial jackals can't possibly have their hand in even a few of them.

Some 100 organizations or companies are involved in vaccine development.[4] The BioHealth Capital Region, which is the 4th largest biopharma cluster in the United States,[11] has 8 companies directly contributing to COVID-19 vaccine progress.[12] Five hundred clinical studies worldwide, across all stages of development on vaccine and therapeutic candidates for COVID‑19, were registered with the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, as of March 2020.[13]

In early March 2020, CEPI announced a US$2 billion funding goal in a global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organisations to accelerate development of COVID‑19 vaccines, with commitments to date by the governments of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, and the UK.[2] In March-April, the Canadian Government initiated a CA$1.3 billion innovation fund for vaccine research, development, and clinical trials through 2022.[14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine

One needn't let cynicism toward our leaders bias a view of the science landscape.

[disndat]

16. Thank God,Fauci

is in charge. He has solid experience with his early involvement with AZT/HIV as head of Niaid.

[gab13by13]

15. If a vaccine comes out this year,

count me out, I will wait a bit longer.

[Omaha Steve]

18. After a review by forum hosts....LOCKING

Analysis.

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