Thread by @rvenkayya

@BhadeliaMD @kavitapmd @ashishkjha @ASlavitt @RanuDhillon @RebeccaKatz5 Manufacturing partnerships are necessary for any company to ramp up manufacturing of #COVID vaccines, since no company has enough capacity to meet the world’s needs. Nearly all vaccines in late-stage trials have partnerships in place for this purpose. 1/ 🧵

@BhadeliaMD @kavitapmd @ashishkjha @ASlavitt @RanuDhillon @RebeccaKatz5 .@Novavax is a good example (@AstraZeneca is another). They listed their network of partners when they announced the partnership with @SerumInstIndia, with a goal of manufacturing >2B doses/yr. (@TakedaPharma is one of those partners.) 2/
ir.novavax.com/news-releases/…

@BhadeliaMD @kavitapmd @ashishkjha @ASlavitt @RanuDhillon @RebeccaKatz5 @Novavax @AstraZeneca @SerumInstIndia @TakedaPharma But it would be hard to quickly expand supply through new partnerships for several reasons:

TIMELINES: Depending on maturity and complexity of the process and partner capabilities, it takes a *minimum* of several months to transfer manufacturing to a new partner & facility. 3/

@BhadeliaMD @kavitapmd @ashishkjha @ASlavitt @RanuDhillon @RebeccaKatz5 @Novavax @AstraZeneca @SerumInstIndia @TakedaPharma GLOBAL MANUFACTURING CAPACITY: Most of the world’s available vaccine manufacturing capacity is committed to existing vaccine production and already redirected to COVID vaccines. There isn’t much left to access in the US or elsewhere. 4/

@BhadeliaMD @kavitapmd @ashishkjha @ASlavitt @RanuDhillon @RebeccaKatz5 @Novavax @AstraZeneca @SerumInstIndia @TakedaPharma CAPACITY TO SUPPORT TECH TRANSFERS: GMP vaccine manufacturing is complex, and each tech transfer has its own challenges and risks. It can be hard for any company to manage multiple tech transfers at once without placing the overall supply strategy at risk. 5/

@BhadeliaMD @kavitapmd @ashishkjha @ASlavitt @RanuDhillon @RebeccaKatz5 @Novavax @AstraZeneca @SerumInstIndia @TakedaPharma SUPPLIES OF RAW MATERIALS AND CONSUMABLES: This is a worldwide problem, as all manufacturers must plan for success and secure materials 6+ months in advance. Yes those materials will become available if programs fail, but until then the supplies need to be reserved. 6/

@BhadeliaMD @kavitapmd @ashishkjha @ASlavitt @RanuDhillon @RebeccaKatz5 @Novavax @AstraZeneca @SerumInstIndia @TakedaPharma These are a few challenges – specifics will vary b/w programs & platforms.

All companies in Ph3 have been developing manufacturing capacity throughout 2020 to limit the gap between proof of safety & efficacy and availability of substantial vaccine supply. 7/

@BhadeliaMD @kavitapmd @ashishkjha @ASlavitt @RanuDhillon @RebeccaKatz5 @Novavax @AstraZeneca @SerumInstIndia @TakedaPharma This isn’t to say we shouldn’t always explore all options to expand supply of vaccines that work. And new opportunities could arise anytime (eg, failure of a program) that alleviate some of these constraints and make it possible to do more in a timeframe that matters. 8/