Recent alliance of the three
biggies – SII, Gavi, the vaccine alliance, and Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation reflects the way a corporate could leverage profit through
innovative idea of human touch. Although, the word social entrepreneurship has
been prevalent for many years, this collaboration is being seen as the
testimony to this innovative & noble idea. It would further validate that this
kind of alliance can be proved beneficial in uplifting the society and the underprivileged
across the globe.
The
Coronavirus pandemic has created undefined situation due to its scale and impact.
However, the poor and underdeveloped countries may have to face hardship in
tackling this unprecedented situation due to poor health infrastructure. With
the cost less than 3 dollars for the coronavirus vaccine, it can be ascertained
that this alliance has grown out of social necessity. This is more than a business
interest & can be cited as the best examples of social entrepreneurship in
recent times.
This
partnership was announced on August 7, 2020, where Serum Institute of India
(SII) entered into landmark collaboration with Gavi and Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation. This reflects the necessity that how an extraordinary
situation could push some organization to take extraordinary measures, SII
quickly understood this unfolding of new
situation & sealed this new opportunity in bringing larger collaboration
and help the world to come out from the biggest mess of our times, specially reaching to the underdeveloped and
poor countries across the globe. In recent times, pandemic has triggered the
race for safe and effective vaccine worldwide, the role of SII has become more
significant in view of its capacity to manufacture large scale vaccine and
deliver it across the globe. Due to huge pressure, the SII has responsibility
to expand its manufacturing capacity by infusing quick capital and it
desperately needed this to implement its bigger agenda. It’s to be reminded
that SII is the largest producer of vaccine in the world, and its credibility
in the market is well established. As SII has started its randomized controlled
trial of phase 2 & phase 3 few days back for AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine,
company is hopeful to get positive result for this ongoing human trial and
produce 1 billion vaccine for Covid19.
“As
per the latest updates on the clinical trials, we may hope that the Astra Zeneca
Oxford vaccine will be available at the end of this year”, the SII CEO (India),
Adar Poonawalla, told the media. The landmark collaboration of SII with Gavi and
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to accelerate the manufacturing and
delivery of up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for India and low- and
middle-income countries (LMICs) will be one of the huge steps in dealing this
pandemic with a solo motive of human touch and helping underdeveloped &
developing countries with affordable vaccine. Gavi is famously known for
distributing unused vaccine to poor countries and help them in fighting deadly disease.
This collaboration among these giants will embark a new era of delivering
health care facilities, especially to the third world where health care
facilities are less and even cost of it is much higher and least accessible to
the large people.
The
recent reports of costly vaccine have triggered a debate worldwide that how it
will reach to the poor countries, where this Covid 19 pandemic has already
created havoc due to poor health infrastructure and un-affordability of medical
facilities. The compassionate approach of Bill & Melinda gates Foundation
in infusing 150 million to SII and creating a humane collaboration to deal with
this pandemic. However, it’s to be reminded that Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
has created a huge controversy in blocking the efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine
and promoting costly Remdesivir that put the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
on tenterhook, and this noble initiative by Bill & Melinda Gates will help
their controversial foundation to shed its negative image in the media.
The
noble collaboration between SII , the Gavi & Bill & Melinda Gates
foundation will provide upfront capital to SII to help them increase
manufacturing capacity now so that, once a vaccine, or vaccines, gains
regulatory approval and WHO prequalification, doses can be produced at warp
speed for distribution to India and LMIC
as part of the Gavi COVAX AMC mechanism as early as the first half of 2021.
The
funding will boost at-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from
AstraZeneca, a Swedish company and Novavax, which will be available for
procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and WHO
Prequalification. SII has set an affordable ceiling price of US$ 3 per dose and
this will be highly reduced rate of any vaccine around the world and it will
pose challenge to other Covid 19 vaccine manufacturers to put a brave face in
such highly competitive market. The arrangement also gives an option to secure
additional doses if the vaccines pillar of the ACT Accelerator sees a need for
it.
The
Gavi board confirmed the list of 92 countries that will be supported by the
AMC. Under the new arrangement between these stakeholders, AstraZeneca’s
candidate vaccine, if successful, will be available to 57 Gavi-eligible
countries. Novavax’s candidate, if successful, will be available to all 92
countries supported by the AMC.
This
collaboration validates India’s proven-track record in developing safe and
quality vaccines. There is a long history of Gavi and pharmaceutical companies
successfully partnering with Indian manufactures, particularly the Serum
Institute of India, to manufacture vaccines that protect against meningitis,
severe diarrhea, pneumonia and measles. So,
their past association will help to accelerate the manufacturing process and
expedite the delivery with the help of Gavi which has the proven track record
of strong supply chain in this field. “Researchers are making good progress on
developing safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19”, said the Co-chair, Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation. This collaboration gives the world some of
both: the power of India’s manufacturing sector and Gavi’s supply chain. It’s
just a beginning. Organizations like: Gavi and CEPI need much more support to
facilitate development and delivery of hundreds of millions - maybe billions -
of vaccine doses by next year. This
collaboration reflects three major outcomes, firstly, it recognizes the
potential of India’s manufacturing prowess, secondly, Gavi’s proven track
record in supply chain that will help to deliver this Covid 19 vaccine to
almost 170 countries worldwide and Bill & Melinda Gates’s capital infusion
to make sure that there is no hindrance in the way of making vaccine due to
capital crunch and it is rightly delivered to people who really need it &
has less accessibility of medical health care facilities. So this collaboration
among these distinguished partners has basic fundamentals of human touch and
capability to deliver it to the people across the globe and help the world to
come out from this colossal problem of Covid 19.