On Jan. 23, 2020—before the novel coronavirus even had a name—Wuhan, China, locked down and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced it would partner with BIO member Moderna to develop an mRNA vaccine against the rapidly spreading disease. Here’s where things stand, one year later.
One year after the world’s first lockdown, COVID-19 has infected nearly 100 million people worldwide and claimed more than 2.1 million lives.
And one year after that press conference, we’ve seen an unprecedented response to stop COVID-19 in its tracks. The biopharma industry has launched more than 800 R&D programs targeting COVID-19, and two vaccines—Moderna’s and Pfizer-BioNTech’s—have been authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested the FDA could authorize emergency use of a third vaccine by as early as Feb. 5—Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine candidate, which provided an immune response lasting at least 71 days.
“I would be surprised if it was any more than two weeks from now that the data will be analyzed and decisions would be made” about the J&J vaccine candidate, Dr. Fauci said on MSNBC.
Meanwhile, on his second day in office, President Joe Biden issued five executive orders related to vaccines, including one authorizing use of the Defense Production Act to boost production and supply.
“We said 100 million doses in the first 100 days, and we’re going to stick to that plan,”said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new chief of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
Learn more about the industry’s incredible work on COVID-19. Check out BIO’s COVID-19 Therapeutic Development Tracker for the latest developments.
Listen:Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tal Zaks joined the I AM BIO Podcast last year to talk about their technology and how they were able to move so quickly. Listen now at www.bio.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Google, and Spotify.
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