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| ▲ Cover cover interview with the co-founder of Bioentech, Germany, who developed the COVID-19 vaccine. | |
| Ⓒ Spiegel |
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The CEO of Bioentech, a German pharmaceutical company that launched the world’s first novel coronavirus (Corona 19) vaccine, announced that it will release a vaccine that does not require storage at cryogenic temperatures.
According to AP and Reuters, on the 1st (local time), Sahin CEO of Bioentech, who jointly developed a vaccine with Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical company, is a German weekly magazine. <슈피겔>“We will be able to prepare the next generation of vaccines, which are more manageable than now, by late summer,” he said.
Pfizer-Bioentech showed high preventive effect of 95% in clinical trials and was approved by countries around the world, but difficult transportation and storage conditions were pointed out as a drawback to maintain a cryogenic temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius.
When asked how to respond if the mutant virus is so powerful that existing vaccines do not work, he replied, “We are testing to see if our vaccine can neutralize this mutant virus, and we will learn more soon.”
“We will be able to slightly modify the existing vaccine as needed within six weeks,” he added. “But it may require additional approval.”
The mutant virus, which was first discovered in the UK and spreading rapidly around the world, was found to be more than 70% more powerful than the existing virus. However, it has not been confirmed whether it can be prevented with conventional vaccines.
On the other hand, CEO Sahin said, “It seems that the situation is not good right now,” saying, “Because other vaccines have not been approved yet, they are experiencing a shortage of supply due to the relatively delayed approval of the vaccine by the European Union and the amount of purchase is small. “We need to fill the gap with our vaccine.”
Unlike the U.S. and the U.S. that additionally approved AstraZeneca’s vaccine, the EU only approved Pfizer-Bioentech’s vaccine.
“The goal is to start a new vaccine production facility in Marburg, Germany, starting next month ahead of the original plan,” said Sahin. “Then, we will be able to produce an additional 250 million batches in the first half of this year.”
“Because of the fierce competition for vaccine development, the EU would have expected to be able to choose vaccines made by other pharmaceutical companies,” said Özlem Thurage, the wife of Bioentech co-founder and CEO Sahin. It became clear that I could not.”
In addition, he added, “We have signed a contract with five major pharmaceutical companies in Europe to increase vaccine production,” he added. “We are discussing with other pharmaceutical companies.”