BioNTech Annual General Meeting Successful with mRNA technology

Status: 22.06.2021 10:25 a.m.

At today’s Annual General Meeting, the BioNTech top management can boast great successes. This is not only due to the corona vaccine, in which the company has left many competitors behind.

From Bianca von der Au, ARD stock exchange studio

What happened to the Tübingen-based vaccine manufacturer CureVac is actually the norm in the biotech industry: one drug candidate disappoints. Research is tedious and devours billions. The rapid success of the competitor BioNTech was more than a stroke of luck, believes asset manager Hendrik Leber from the private corporation Acatis. The Mainz biotech company did a lot of things right, he says. “BioNTech made the decision very quickly to develop a vaccine at all. And the choice of partner to work with Pfizer was an extremely good decision.” The US pharmaceutical company opened the door to the American market and at the same time pushed ahead with marketing and clinical studies at a rapid pace.

Does CureVac’s chance lie in the mutants?

The Tübingen competitor CureVac is not only lagging in terms of time, but also in terms of time Effectiveness of his vaccine after. Experts are divided as to whether this deficit can be made up at all. Pharmaceutical specialist Alexander Nuyken from the consulting company EY gives the race is not lost for CureVac – in view of the constant number of new mutations and a low vaccination rate among the world’s population.

mRNA vaccine with great potential

However, the EY expert sees enormous potential in biotechnology, especially in the field, beyond the corona vaccine novel mRNA technology , which CureVac is also researching. “It was originally not developed with Covid in mind, but for completely different therapies, such as cancer”recalls Nuyken. There is the potential to address other diseases with this technology, namely, according to the expert, “cheaper, faster and more efficient.”

There is great hope – not only among investors – that mRNA technology can develop effective agents against previously incurable diseases – not only against cancer, but also against Alzheimer’s, for example. BioNTech has been researching a vaccine against cancer for a long time and, a few days ago, treated a skin cancer patient with an mRNA vaccine for the first time in a phase II study.

Would you like more willingness to take risks?

The path to the surprising success with the corona vaccine was only possible for BioNTech thanks to patient donors in the background. EY pharma expert Nuyken believes that there is a need for greater willingness to take risks in Germany. “How do we get the good science that we undoubtedly have in Germany in companies? And how can we then further develop these companies until they are ready for the market?”the expert asks.

He sees this as the biggest hurdle in the German environment. “In contrast to the American market, we have significantly less capital that is available for the development of these companies.” So it’s no wonder that CureVac and BioNTech have been listed on the Nasdaq technology exchange in the USA in the past two years. But also in Germany, Corona and the search for a vaccine have put the biotech industry in the (spotlight) light. According to EY, the German biotechnology company is in the Corona year 2020 so much capital flowed in as never before . In CureVac, the federal government even invested 300 million euros – a risky investment

CureVac Story of a disappointed hope

Status: 06/17/2021 8:30 p.m.

While the world is now being vaccinated with BioNTech, the vaccine from CureVac has proven to be ineffective. How could the two great German hopefuls develop so differently?

By Thomas Aders and Sebastian Deliga, SWR

At first it was a German head-to-head race between the Mainz-based pharmaceutical company BioNTech and the Tübingen researchers from CureVac. Both use the same technology “Messenger RNA”, the share prices of both companies initially took off on the stock exchanges, and both have professional and global partners. The Mainz-based company was able to bring the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on board, while the Tübingen-based company found what they were looking for at Bayer. And not only that: At the beginning of September, a man came to visit Tübingen, whose name makes technology enthusiasts, e-mobility enthusiasts and stock market speculators enthusiastic: Tesla boss Elon Musk. Even before he paid his respects to Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, he stopped by CureVac. For the production of their vaccines, the people of Tübingen used the technology of the medium-sized company Grohmann in the Eifel, which in turn has been part of the Tesla empire since 2017.

The field of support from both companies was also in competition: in Tübingen, SAP boss Dietmar Hopp became the majority owner, in Mainz the twins Thomas and Andreas Strüngmann, who had become rich in the pharmaceutical business, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were behind BioNTech boss Ugur Sahin. From the outside, it was still the duel between digitization pioneer Hopp and oncology professor Sahin. Both were believed to be successful.

But since the beginning of 2021, the people of Baden-Württemberg have stumbled in the race against the Rhineland-Palatinate; while the BioNTech drug was approved by the authorities, CureVac has still not fully completed the third phase of its vaccine testing. Today’s publication of the inferior efficacy of the Tübingen vaccine candidate CVnCOV of only 47 percent – in contrast to 90 percent for BioNTech / Pfizer – was the end of hopes for mass production soon and the end of hopes for strong profits on the stock market; the price of CureVac has more than halved.

Why does the vaccine protect so poorly against Covid-19?

When the Tübingen-based company delayed the crucial phase 3 and tested the vaccine, there were already several mutations of the corona virus. That made research much more difficult. Virologist Martin Stürmer from the University of Frankfurt also sees this as one of the problems: “BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Co. – they only had to deal with B.1.1.7 (the Alpha variant, first developed in England).” In addition, it was the Tübingen’s unwritten law to administer RNA as pure as possible and not chemically treated. This also had fatal consequences for CureVac, because the competition achieved a much higher concentration by modifying the messenger RNA. The head of the CureVac vaccination study, Peter Kremsner: “BioNTech and Moderna were able to dose three to ten times as high because they chemically changed the RNA. At CureVac, the dogma was that the RNA should be injected as unchanged as possible, which is basically correct, but unfortunately it did not work.” The goal of the Tübingen was a noble one. And the SPD politician and epidemiologist Karl Lauterbach is talking about the company’s fate today tagesschau.de “terribly sorry”. He always admired the particularly ethical and moral standards of the Tübingen population. But Lauterbach no longer sees any basis for hope either. Even if CureVac starts all over again, the competitors from BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson, for example, have made further progress in their research. So the Tübingen train left for many.

What does this mean for the vaccination campaign in Germany and Europe?

Epidemiologist Lauterbach very much regrets the bitter fate of CureVac, but he sees the German vaccination campaign as hardly endangered in the Tübingen disaster. Several other vaccines worked to a great extent in his opinion, and in his view today’s setback would result in a delay of no more than three weeks. “By the end of September we will probably have a vaccination rate of 70 percent, and thus herd immunity.” The Federal Ministry of Health is also anything but panicked. Got the latest news about CureVac “no impact on the pace of our vaccination campaign”. Brussels does not want to comment directly on the CureVac disaster, that is a matter for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam, which decides on the approval of vaccine preparations. However, the EU has apparently taken precautions in the event that CureVac fails: The contract with the Tübingen region includes “Termination clauses in the event that the vaccine is not approved by the EMA”. There are also rather composed comments from Parliament: of course, the results at CureVac are inadequate “a big disappointment”, said MEP Peter Liese. “The goal of offering people in Germany and Europe a vaccination offer by the end of the summer is still realistic.” This is due to the positive developments at BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson. Additional information is interesting in Peter Liese’s statement: CureVac CEO Franz-Werner Haas had already promised him in December that his company would work with other manufacturers, “if your vaccine doesn’t work”. With today’s publication of this conversation note, the pressure on the Tübingen-based company and its partner Bayer should now have increased rapidly to cooperate quickly with successful competitors from Mainz and to convert their own capacities to the production of BioNTech.

Did the state lose money promoting CureVac?

“The federal government is participating in this promising company because it expects it to accelerate developments and to enable CureVac financially to exploit the potential of its technology.” Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier said that almost exactly a year ago. The federal government then invested 300 million euros in the Tübingen-based company. In addition, there was the Federal Ministry of Research, which made a commitment for funding of 251.6 million euros.

All in all, a good half a billion euros. So is the money gone now? The answer: only in part. On the one hand, the federal government received a share in the company for its investment. And although CureVac’s price has slumped by more than half today, the value of that portion is still likely to be significantly higher than when the company went public. And on the other hand, of the promised 251.6 million, only 102.8 million euros have actually flowed so far, as the Ministry of Research tagesschau.de confirmed today. The rest will probably be withheld as the payout “depending on the progress of the project” is. Regardless of the possible “Losses” The question arises, however, what would have happened if the federal government had not invested a cent in promising companies such as CureVac or BioNTech. An outcry would probably have gone through the republic, even though an alleged takeover offer by ex-US President Donald Trump turned out to be a hoax. The situation in the crisis year 2020 was dramatic, according to SPD health expert Lauterbach. “It was an extremely noble attempt by our German companies to develop a new type of Covid vaccine and make it available to the whole world. The investments were right, although in the case of CureVac there was no success.”

CureVac vaccine not very effective Crash of a Bearer of hope

Status: 06/17/2021 12:31 p.m.

CureVac’s vaccine proves far less effective than hoped, with the biotech company’s stock plummeting. What does this mean for the vaccination campaign and German taxpayers?

From Angela Göpfert, tagesschau.de

For the company CureVac and its owners, dramatic scenes have taken place in the past few hours. The price of the Tübingen-based company listed on the US technology exchange Nasdaq had already halved in after-hours trading on the US stock exchange on Wednesday. This morning, the CureVac share then rushed in German retail by up to 52.4 percent.

Eight billion euros destroyed on the stock exchange

This destroyed around eight billion euros in market value within a few minutes. This melted down from over 15 to a good seven billion euros. The drastic course reaction shows how surprisingly, despite all previous doubts, such devastating study data as CureVac has now presented, came in the end – and how serious the consequences could be.

On Wednesday night, CureVac announced that its first-generation vaccine candidate was CVnCoV only an effectiveness of 47 percent against a Covid 19 disease of any severity. The company thus missed the intended statistical success criteria for approval.

Completely out of the vaccination campaign?

The study is to be continued, and the degree of effectiveness could change with higher case numbers. However, if the current trend continues, approval is unlikely. In this case, experts say CVnCoV would be a total flop for the company. For the German vaccination campaign, CureVac is therefore canceled until further notice. “According to these study results, it will be extremely difficult for CureVac to play a role at all in the current vaccination campaign”, told LBBW analyst Timo Kürschner tagesschau.de . According to the federal government, the setback for the Tübingen company does not upset the vaccinations in Germany. “This announcement has no effect on the speed of our vaccination campaign”said a spokesman for the federal health ministry.

Other manufacturers are still catching up

Industry observers believe that speed is just as important in vaccine development as it is in drug development. “Late bloomers like CureVac only have a chance if they have a better effect profile or fewer side effects”, explains pharmaceutical expert Kürschner.

“The more time that elapses, the more efficient the production of vaccines that have already been approved will be”says the pharmaceutical expert. “BioNTech & Co. are then more and more able to serve the required delivery quantities.” His conclusion: “We could get to a point where you actually no longer need the CureVac vaccine because the vaccination campaign is already so advanced.”

Hundreds of millions from the federal government

The severe setback for CureVac meanwhile has effects beyond the current vaccination campaign. It meets the German taxpayers – after all, the federal government has a stake of around 16 percent in the company and has supported vaccine development with a special program worth several hundred million euros. It is also a debacle for SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp, who holds almost 50 percent of the shares.

Last but not least, the CureVac price disaster hits the countless private investors who have invested their money in the share. The paper of the company, which is legally based in the Netherlands, has been one of the most traded foreign stocks in the past few weeks on the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, where many private investors cavort.

Recently increased warning signs

Recently, there had been more and more indications that the CureVac vaccine could fail for the time being. Even when Health Minister Jens Spahn, according to media reports, deleted CureVac from the federal government’s planning for the current vaccination campaign, this could hardly affect the share.

The high market capitalization compared to rival companies was also a warning sign: Before the current price crash, CureVac had a higher market value than Novavax. The US manufacturer had already reported a Phase III study on Monday, according to which its vaccine had a has a high effectiveness of 90 percent .

Often high risk in the industry

For CureVac and its owners this is now the “Worst case” of a biotech company. At the same time, the CureVac case also shows the general risks facing the industry. Companies in this industry usually have very few active ingredients in their pipeline. If one then fails – for whatever reason – it often has fatal consequences for the entire company.

LBBW expert Kürschner also sees CureVac “a prime example of the risks involved in investing in biotech companies”. However, Kürschner does not fear negative consequences of the CureVac events for the German biotech industry. After all, there is a positive counterexample in the country. “I’m sure: BioNTech’s success story will outshine the rather negative course at CureVac.”

Corona vaccine CVnCoV Bad Intermediate result for CureVac

As of: 06/17/2021 6:42 a.m.

Setback for CureVac: The corona vaccine CVnCoV only showed an effectiveness of 47 percent in the second interim analysis, said the Tübingen-based company. The study is to be continued. CureVac’s corona vaccine candidate CVnCoV missed the statistical targets in a second interim analysis. The Tübingen-based company announced this in a mandatory notification. There it says: “In a previously unprecedented environment with at least 13 variants within the subset of study participants examined in this interim analysis, CVnCoV achieved a preliminary effectiveness of 47 percent against COVID-19 disease of any severity and thus did not meet the specified statistical success criteria.” Initial analyzes have shown that the effectiveness depends on the age group examined and the virus strains, the company continues. The vaccine candidate is in the final stage of clinical development. CEO Franz-Werner Haas announced that one had hoped for stronger results in the interim analysis. But continue the current study until the final analysis.

Actually soon approval is planned

Until the beginning of June it had been said that the company expected – depending on the clinical trial data – the approval of its vaccine candidate in the EU at least for the second quarter. But shortly afterwards it became known that the proceedings would be further delayed.

CureVac, which works with Bayer, had long been considered one of the hopes in the competitive race for approval of the first corona vaccines. But while vaccines have been administered by numerous competitors worldwide for months, the Tübingen-based company is still collecting data – and recently had repeatedly put off shareholders and observers.

Manufacturers deliver less Vaccination campaign could stall

Status: 16.06.2021 2:47 p.m. In Germany there will be fewer BioNTech cans available next month. Johnson & Johnson is also delivering less than planned. The German vaccination campaign could suffer a setback as a result. The vaccine manufacturer BioNTech will deliver significantly less vaccine to Germany in July than in June. Instead of 5.7 million cans for the last week of June, only 3.2 million cans are planned for the first week of July (KW 27). But there could be no question of a surprising cut, said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health. Rather, BioNTech preferred deliveries in June that were actually intended for later. It was always clear that the delivery volume of the Mainz manufacturer in the third quarter would be around 40.2 million vaccination doses lower than the around 50 million in the second quarter. So far there has only been a clear delivery promise for the first week of July with 3.235 million cans. After that, around 3.3 million doses per week can be expected. That was also communicated to the federal states. SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach therefore warns of a setback for the vaccination campaign: “If the BioNTech deliveries fall so sharply, it will be difficult to demonstrate herd immunity before mid-September,” he told the “Spiegel”. At the same time, it is shown that the delta variant is highly infectious and sometimes causes severe disease. “That’s scary,” said Lauterbach.

06/02/2021

6.5 million fewer doses from Johnson & Johnson

The US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will also deliver significantly fewer vaccine doses than planned. The European Commission expects that J&J will not be able to meet its delivery targets to the EU for the second quarter. The reason for this is a decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), according to which 17 million doses of the vaccine cannot be used in the EU for safety reasons after cases of contamination have occurred in a US plant. The group will therefore probably not reach its delivery target of 55 million cans by the end of June, says a commission spokesman. So far, only around twelve million cans have been delivered. The Federal Ministry of Health estimates that J&J will be able to deliver around 6.5 million fewer doses to Germany than planned by the end of June because of the breakdown. “That is unfortunate, because every vaccine counts,” said a spokeswoman. The ministry expects the missing quantity to be replenished in July.

June 16, 2021

Waiting for Sputnik and Curevac

The Germans will probably have to wait even longer for the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, because, according to government circles, approval will be postponed “probably to September, maybe even to the end of the year”. The reason is that the Russian manufacturer has not yet submitted the necessary clinical trial data to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the news agency Reuters learned from government circles. The clinical dossier was supposed to be available by June 10th. The Russian state fund RDIF, which sells Sputnik V, described the information as incorrect. All the necessary data on the clinical studies have been submitted and received positive comments. Initially, no comments were received from the EMA. The vaccine from Curevac is also not yet available. The vaccine from the Tübingen company, once praised as a bearer of hope, is still not approved. The Federal Ministry of Health has therefore canceled the delivery of 1.4 million vaccine doses originally planned for the current second quarter. According to health expert Lauterbach, the delay in approval could indicate that the effectiveness of the Curevac vaccine is not looking good.

06/07/2021

Moderna delivers a little more

Meanwhile, there are increasing complaints about the shortage of vaccines – from company doctors, general practitioners and some vaccination centers. The calls from some prime ministers for more vaccine also persist – while millions of Germans are still waiting for an initial vaccination. There is positive news from Moderna: The US manufacturer will increase its delivery volume compared to June, from 622,000 to 733,000 cans per week. In addition, Schleswig-Holstein is giving part of the AstraZeneca vaccine provided by Denmark to Hamburg. Thanks to the delivery, at least 8,000 new appointments can be made in the vaccination center in the megacity since today. The neighboring state does not manage to use the cans from Danish stock in time before the expiry date at the end of June.

background June 15, 2021

Industry collects billions Record sums for biotech companies

Status: 15.06.2021 10:46 a.m.

The successes of biotech companies such as BioNTech attract investors: The industry has a new financial record in Germany. But the exuberance could be followed by disillusionment. By Thomas Spinnler, tagesschau.de The entire biotech industry is currently benefiting greatly from the attention generated by the rapid and successful development of corona vaccines. The pandemic has given a boost to a sector that is already in the focus of many investors due to technological and medical advances in recent years. As the “Financial Times” (FT) reports, the venture capitalist Flagship Pioneering – one of the major investors in the Vaccine manufacturer Moderna – around $ 3.5 billion for a new fund. Its aim is to promote the next generation of biotech companies.

Fund tries a new model

When investing in the biotech industry, investors must calculate with particular risks. Many of the companies to invest in do not yet have a product on the market. It is uncertain whether this will ever be the case, as the path from research to a marketable product is very long and often fails.

01/06/2021

Flagship Pioneering is now trying a different way. What is special, according to “FT”, is that the fund’s goal is not the usual search for newly founded companies in which to invest. Rather, modern biotechnologies are to be developed in-house in certain segments under the umbrella of the fund. Only then are plans to set up companies as offshoots.

The profits are gushing

Unsurprisingly, financiers are on the lookout for business ideas; they smell a gigantic business. Just a look at the rapidly rising share prices of many companies in the past few months shows how convinced the market players are of a lucrative future for the sector. In fact, profits are gushing – at least for the best-known representatives who have successfully launched products. BioNTech generated a net profit of 1.1 billion euros in the first quarter of 2021. In the first quarter of 2020, the Mainz-based company had to accept a net loss of 53 million euros due to high research and development costs.

05/10/2021

The US vaccine manufacturer Moderna made in the first quarter profit – equal to a billion dollars. In the previous year, Moderna had to cope with a loss of 124 million. The turnover multiplied from eight million to 1.9 billion dollars. $ 1.7 billion of this comes from corona vaccine revenue. While Moderna shares rose by more than 200 percent in the past twelve months, BioNTech shares gained over 340 percent in the same period.

Lighthouse companies in particular benefit

In Germany, the biotech industry set a new financial record last year. As the experts from the testing and consulting company EY calculated in their Biotech Report 2021, financing in Germany reached a peak of 3.1 billion euros in 2020. A comparison with the USA shows the order of magnitude. According to EY, around $ 100 billion went into biotech financing for venture capitalists.

02/27/2021

“Covid-19 is a huge catalyst for the entire biotechnology industry,” said Alexander W. Nuyken, Head of the Life Sciences Sector in Strategy and Transactions at EY and co-author of the study. In their report, the experts at EY point out that the investments essentially relate to the flagship company BioNTech, which alone accounted for 51 percent of the financing volume in 2020. According to Nuyken, biotechnology is part of the solution to a problem that is a matter of fate for humanity. “That has come to mind.”

More help from the state?

This year it’s going on at a high pace: The “Handelsblatt” quotes from preliminary figures from the Bio Deutschland Association. Accordingly, the industry received a total of 870 million euros in capital from January to May. That is around three and a half times as much as in the same period last year. Nuyken campaigns for the state to help even more: “I hope that politicians show more will to improve framework conditions.” There is now an opportunity for the biotech scene to play a major role in this country in the long term or to play an even greater role in the future.

Hope for new products

In fact, taxpayers have already made a major contribution to making the industry so successful: Since the beginning of the pandemic, governments have allocated tens of billions to research and development on vaccines, which are now generating sales and profits for companies. However, it is uncertain whether, thanks to the many fresh billions, the supply of innovative medical products will make a leap. Nuyken warns of disappointing expectations: “If investors with no biotech experience think they can make a quick buck here, they’re wrong.” After the boom, the expert warns, disillusionment could quickly set in.

Corona vaccine study Novavax is 90 percent effective

Status: 14.06.2021 2:21 p.m. According to preliminary study data, the corona vaccine from the US pharmaceutical manufacturer Novavax is safe and highly effective – even with virus variants. The product raises great hopes, especially in developing countries. According to the US pharmaceutical company, the Novavax corona vaccine protects well against the virus and its variants. The company said that the vaccine was around 90 percent effective and, according to preliminary data from a study, safe. The vaccine effectiveness study involved nearly 30,000 people in the United States and Mexico. Two-thirds of them received two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart, all others received placebos. A total of 77 people were infected with the coronavirus, 14 of them in the group of those who were vaccinated. Of the participants who received the drug, none developed severe or moderate symptoms, while there were 14 in the comparison group without vaccination.

background 06/14/2021

No cases of blood clots or heart problems

The vaccine was similarly effective against several variants of the coronavirus, including the alpha variant first discovered in the UK, as well as in high-risk groups such as the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions. The side effects were similar to those of other vaccines and mainly concerned pain at the injection site. There have been no reports of blood clots or heart problems, said Novavax boss Stanley Erck. Novavax plans to publish the results in a medical journal where they will be reviewed by independent experts.

Vaccine important for developing countries

The company said that applications for approval would be submitted in the USA and Europe, among others, by the end of September. Until then, a production of 100 million cans per month is possible. Novavax’s vaccine is easy to transport and store, which is why it is expected to play an important role in vaccination campaigns in developing countries. “Many of our first doses will go to low- and middle-income countries, and that was the goal from the start,” said Erck. Novavax’s vaccine works in a similar way to flu vaccines. It is made with laboratory-grown copies of the spike protein that envelops the coronavirus. The immune system reacts to the proteins in the vaccine and is thus prepared when it is actually confronted with the virus. Other vaccines that are widely used today contain the genetic instructions for the body to make its own spike protein.

02.03.2021

Deliveries to companies Farms are waiting for more vaccine

Status: 14.06.2021 12:44 p.m.

Company doctors have been able to vaccinate their employees for a week. But the amount of vaccine allocated is nowhere near sufficient. In the second week, fewer vaccine doses are delivered than in the first. From Jens Eberl, WDR BMW has big plans. The automobile manufacturer has set up a total of 29 vaccination lines at its locations in Germany. In Munich alone there are six vaccination lines at two locations. The company said it could do up to 2,500 vaccinations a day. This means that the entire workforce in Germany can be vaccinated within a few weeks. The problem: there isn’t enough vaccine. A little more than 5000 employees were vaccinated in the first week. The situation is similar with the consumer goods manufacturer Henkel. A vaccination center was set up in a company building in the immediate vicinity of the factory premises in Düsseldorf. Up to 1500 employees per week can be vaccinated. In the first week, however, there were only 640.

Fewer vaccine doses in the second week

“Many companies have prepared themselves really well,” says Wolfgang Panter, President of the Association of German Company and Company Doctors (VDBW). “6300 company doctors are available nationwide and have ordered vaccines.” But it is only arriving slowly. The distribution is based on the number of company doctors in the company. Last week there were 102 doses per doctor. This week it should be 84. “Originally, 804 cans per head were planned, but it was clear that this would never be the case,” said Panter. The company doctors are now relying heavily on July. Here one reckons that the vaccination turbo will be switched on. Be prepared.

FAQ 06/08/2021

High demand from the staff

At Thyssenkrupp, vaccinations are carried out every five minutes at the Essen site, on four vaccination lines, with seven doctors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Should more vaccine be delivered, vaccinations can also be carried out in the evening and on weekends and a 5th vaccination line can also be used. 50,000 people work at Currenta, which manages and operates one of the largest chemical sites. They had ordered 20,000 doses here; if these had arrived, the vaccination would be finished in two to three weeks. But only 3000 came. According to the company, the vaccination lines of Deutsche Telekom have a capacity of up to 10,000 vaccinations per week. Telekom has 89,000 employees in Germany. Due to the approval of priority group 3 by the federal states, vaccinations had already been carried out in the company. The company expects up to 30,000 employees to take advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated by company doctors. Telekom has set up 18 vaccination lines nationwide for this purpose.

06/02/2021

IT facilitates rapid processes

Many companies have also adapted their IT to vaccinate. For example, BASF has developed its own online booking system together with an IT service provider. Employees can use this to register. The navigation along the entire Impfstraße is completely digitized from check-in to check-out. The vaccination center went into operation on April 14th. Up to and including Friday, around 16,000 BASF employees had received an initial vaccination. Initially, the vaccination sequence prescribed by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate was followed and priority groups II and III were vaccinated. Since June 7, all BASF employees at the Ludwigshafen site have been able to register for a vaccination appointment. At the Vonovia real estate group, a random generator determines who receives a vaccination offer for which location based on the activity performed. First, the random number generator selects employees with direct customer contact.

Prioritization canceled in many places

In the meantime, many companies have completely removed the prioritization. The Deutsche Post says that there is no longer any personal prioritization in the sequence of vaccinations. “Through the choice of location and the allocation of appointments, we ensure that employees in the operational area have at least equal access to operational vaccination appointments,” says the company. At RWE, employees have been able to make appointments using an online tool or by telephone since last Monday. RWE does not plan to prioritize vaccinations. The President of the Association of German Company and Company Doctors has established that every company has a different approach to prioritization. From his point of view, employees who are exposed to a higher risk should still be given preference, for example field staff or fitters; People who have a lot of contacts. Of course, you can’t dictate that, says Panter.

Corona vaccine Which slows down vaccine production

Status: 14.06.2021 8:11 a.m. Corona vaccine is still scarce in Germany. The production of the vaccine has been running at full speed for months. What makes it so difficult to manufacture quickly in large quantities? From David Zajonz, WDR In theory, anyone in Germany has been allowed to be vaccinated for a week if they want to. In practice, more precisely in the doctor’s office, many people who want to be vaccinated receive the same information over and over again: “We would like to vaccinate you, but unfortunately we do not have enough vaccine.” In vaccination centers in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are currently no initial vaccinations at all due to supply bottlenecks. Almost six months after the start of the corona vaccination campaign in Germany, vaccines are still in short supply. The frustration of many people who have not yet received a vaccination is correspondingly great.

Previous production “absolutely sensational”

Nevertheless, the speed of vaccine production is enormous, believes Rolf Hömke from the Association of Research-Based Drug Manufacturers (vfa). It normally takes several years to produce a new vaccine on a large scale: “Judging by all the experience of previous vaccine projects, it is absolutely sensational how quickly the additional production was built up,” says Hömke. To clarify, he cites two figures: Before Corona, according to the World Health Organization, a good five billion vaccine doses were produced worldwide every year – against tetanus, measles and many other diseases. On the other hand, more than two billion vaccine doses had been administered in the fight against Corona by early June. According to current company information, more than 700 million vaccine doses of BioNTech / Pfizer’s most frequently used vaccine in Germany alone have been produced and shipped worldwide – up to three billion by the end of the year.

There is a lack of personnel and materials

There are several reasons why vaccine production is not progressing any faster. The production is complex, says Udo Reichl, an expert in the production of vector vaccines at the University of Magdeburg. “Vector vaccines are produced in bioreactors,” he explains. “Building a new production facility with bioreactors can take one to two years.” Therefore, production cannot be ramped up at will. Manufacturers also struggle to find qualified personnel. In addition, there is a lack of materials that are needed for production, according to vfa spokesman Hömke. “For example, there is a lack of spare parts for the production systems, sterile plastic covers and special chemicals.” Lipids, i.e. fats that are needed for mRNA vaccines, are particularly popular, says Hömke. “A large manufacturer of lipids for vaccines told us that at the beginning of 2020 they expected a few kilos of these lipids to be in demand. Now they can sell a few tons of them.”

background 05/26/2021

Pharmaceutical companies work together

In order to be able to produce faster, the pharmaceutical companies enter into an unusually large number of partnerships. A prominent example is the collaboration between the small Mainz research company BioNTech and the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The French manufacturer Sanofi, on the other hand, whose own vaccine project has stalled, plans to soon produce BioNTech / Pfizer’s vaccine in its Frankfurt plant. Another example: BioNTech has taken over its plant in Marburg from the Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Novartis – including its employees. It takes a long time to build new systems, explains vaccine expert Reichl. Conversely, converting existing production facilities is much easier.

March 31, 2021

Worry about poorer countries

The joint efforts of the pharmaceutical companies mean that the vaccine shortage in this country should soon be over: “In Europe we will see a gradual relaxation in the supply of vaccines over the summer,” believes Reichl. However, he worries about the supply of poorer countries. “A large part of the world population still has hardly any access to vaccines. If we need further vaccines in Europe to vaccinate against new mutations, these in turn will not be available for other countries.” So it could happen that Europeans and North Americans will be vaccinated three or four times while people in other parts of the world are still waiting for their first shot. It is therefore all the more important, according to Reichl, to set up further vaccine productions in poorer countries.

interview 04/26/2021

Corona pandemic Pfizer trials vaccine on young children

As of: June 9th, 2021 8:38 pm

BioNTech and Pfizer also want their vaccine approved for children under 12 years of age. The first studies on this have already started. The product will soon also be tested on babies. From Antje Passenheim, ARD Studio New York BioNTech and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer are advancing the development of their Covid-19 vaccine for use in younger children. As Pfizer announced in New York, the group has expanded its clinical study to children under twelve years of age.

Admission already in October?

In the first tests, a small number of minors were given different doses of the vaccine. According to Pfizer, around 4,500 children between the ages of six months and eleven will now take part in studies in more than 90 facilities in the United States, Finland, Poland and Spain. Tests on five to eleven year olds began this week. They receive either a placebo or two doses of ten micrograms each. This corresponds to a third of the dose that adolescents and adults receive. Pfizer expects to get US approval for five- to eleven-year-olds by October. In a few weeks, children aged six months and over will be brought in for a study. These should only receive three micrograms per vaccination. A short time later, the group wants to apply for approval for children up to five years of age.

Severe disease courses in children are rare

Pfizer sells the serum developed by BioNTech, a Mainz-based company. Since children are generally less likely to get seriously ill with Covid compared to adults, the group relies on a lower dose vaccination for younger children, which should also have fewer side effects. In the European Union, the USA and Canada, the vaccine is already approved for children from the age of twelve and is sometimes used. In the United States, nearly seven million teenagers have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to health officials.

By Ivo Marusczyk, ARD studio Buenos Aires The Russian vaccine Sputnik V is now also manufactured in Argentina. According to the Russian investment fund, which markets the vaccine worldwide, the first batch was produced in a laboratory in Buenos Aires.

Production for Argentina and Latin America

These cans are now to be checked for quality in Moscow. If all goes well, production on a larger scale could start in June. In Argentina, the vaccine for vaccinations in their own country and in other countries in Latin America will then be produced. The raw materials still come from Russia Vaccine is still scarce in much of the continent. Only Chile was able to vaccinate 40 percent of its population with at least one dose. The AstraZeneca vaccine was also manufactured under license in Argentina. But so far it cannot be used – the bottling should take place in Mexico, but is not progressing.

Production of Sputnik V Russia has its Sputnik V corona vaccine produced in several countries, including India. According to the Russian state fund RDIF, which is responsible for marketing the vaccine, agreements were concluded with 20 producers in ten countries by the beginning of April. These include South Korea and China. According to RDIF, there are also agreements with partners in Germany, France, Spain and Italy. However, some of the national governments declared that they were not aware of the relevant agreements.

Sharply increasing number of cases

In Argentina, the number of new corona cases has recently risen sharply. Since Sunday, the Robert Koch Institute has classified the country as an area with a high incidence. For a few days, there has been a curfew from 8 p.m. in the Buenos Aires area, restaurants are actually only allowed to serve outdoors. The central government and the city government of the capital are fighting a violent dispute over the closure of the schools.

From Peter Allgaier, BR A high fence, barbed wire and a lot of forest – from the road you can see very little of R-Pharm in Illertissen. But the Bavarian state government has high hopes for the company in the Neu-Ulm district. 2.5 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine is to be supplied by the company with which a preliminary contract has already been concluded, emphasized Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder last week . He wants to alleviate the vaccine shortage in vaccination centers and doctors’ offices. But when and whether R-Pharm can deliver the promised quantity is open.

It is currently unclear whether R-Pharm can deliver the promised quantities. Image: REUTERS On the one hand, this is due to the vaccine’s approval for Europe. The location in Illertissen provided a corresponding one in February Application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam. Their employees traveled to Russia last Monday to visit production sites there. They also toured two clinics where patients were cared for during clinical trials.

Doubt despite study too high effectiveness

The medical journal “The Lancet” Sputnik V certifies a high level of effectiveness , similar to that of the vaccines from BioNTech / Pfizer or Moderna. But there are also doubts. According to the Slovak Medicines Agency the vaccine that was supplied is different from the one that “The Lancet” rated. However, R-Pharm is struggling with other problems in Illertissen. There are no permits from the Neu-Ulm district for the planned expansion of the company. A construction freeze on the site was the result.

The process in Illertissen is to be accelerated

“We can only approve a fire protection concept or an application under immission control law if they are on the table,” says Franz-Clemens Brechtel, the deputy district administrator. In immission control, for example, it is checked what effects a system has on the flora and fauna, but also on air and water quality. A specially established task force and a project manager are now supposed to ensure that the procedures are accelerated and run more smoothly. Illertissen has a long tradition in the manufacture of chemical products. In 1860 Heinrich Mack bought an oil mill and made bath tablets there. In the 1930s, the physician Karl August Forster then built one of the largest beekeeping farms in Europe with more than 100 million animals on the site. A rheumatoid drug called “Forapin” was made from their poison. The bee culture is still visible in the city today, in a specially set up museum in the city’s castle.

R-Pharm took over the location in 2014

The US company Pfizer then took over the site in the 1970s. The company had drugs packaged, but also drugs made with highly effective substances. The company was particularly at the forefront of what is known as “containment”, a process in which employees do not come into contact with the active ingredient. But that could not prevent the loss of jobs. Around 350 people are currently still employed by the company, which was finally taken over by R-Pharm in 2014.

The municipality has great hopes for production

“The vaccine production would be like winning the lottery,” says Jürgen Eisen. He is mayor of Illertissen, a town with around 17,000 inhabitants, many of whom share his opinion. They hope for good jobs and more income for the place. R-Pharm is currently advertising vacancies: Among other things, specialists in biotechnology are being sought. More than 30 million euros are to be invested in the expansion, according to the Russian company in a press release. In addition to Sputnik V, the manufacturer could also produce AstraZeneca in the future. Corresponding plans have been circulating for six months. But much is still in the balance.

Possible start of production unclear

R-Pharm can currently only produce on the so-called pilot plant scale, that is, try out the individual steps in a small test arrangement and, for example, produce samples for customers. It is unclear when the correct production can start. The government of Upper Bavaria announced that R-Pharm has not yet submitted an application to be allowed to manufacture the vaccine. The authority sees the urgency in the face of the pandemic, but emphasizes – like the district office – the rule of law. The basis is that all necessary documents are available and the requirements are met.

Time is running out

R-Pharm in Illertissen, however, is running out of time. There are still too few vaccine doses nationwide. However, the situation could change in just a few months. Because established manufacturers are expanding their production, others such as the US company Novavax or the French manufacturer Sanofi are trying to get approval. In the end, it could be similar to FFP2 masks. At first there was far too little, but now the copies are piling up at the dealers. The vaccine is likely to be needed in many other, especially poorer countries, also because the vaccine is comparatively cheap.