Patents are not a “limiting factor” in antiviral vaccine production (BioNTech)

This content was published on May 06, 2021 – 14:19
06. May 2021 – 14:19

(AFP)

German pharmaceutical company BioNTech said Thursday (6) that the patent protection of vaccines against COVID-19 does not limit production or explain supply problems around the world.

“Patents are not the limiting factor in the production or provision of our vaccine. The laboratory told AFP that they will not increase global production or provide doses in the short and medium term. The statement refers to rejecting the US call to launch patent protection for vaccines.”

“If none of the requirements are met, the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine cannot be guaranteed by the manufacturer or the inventor. This could put the validity of vaccines at risk,” the company warns.

By highlighting various details that could harm production, the German company indicated that if some “rare and important raw materials” were not used in the best way, fewer vaccines would be produced.

He added, “Experts have already indicated that the installation and verification of new production sites usually takes one year.”

In addition, the production of an RNA messenger vaccine, such as that carried out by BioNTech and the US company Pfizer, “is a complex process that has been developed over more than a decade. All steps must be precisely defined and executed”, by a “team expert”.

BioNTech, which has estimated production of up to 2.5 billion doses of its vaccine in 2021, now claims it has the “capacity” to produce up to 3 billion doses this year and more than 3 billion next year.

In the European Union, there are two plants, in Belgium and Germany, which are the central platforms for manufacturing mRNA dosages.

He stressed that the laboratory supports the transfer of technology and the granting of specific licenses to increase the production of its vaccine. He noted that he has close cooperation with more than 15 partners, including Merck, Novartis Sanofi and Baxter.