Pharma learns many lessons from COVID-19 shockwave

Back in January, the European pharmaceutical sector was preparing for what was expected to be its best year yet since 1997, with the main concerns only revolving around politics ahead of the US election and Brexit.

At the time, COVID-19 was a new, mysterious virus that had forced millions of Chinese to lock themselves at home, while people elsewhere led their lives as normal in more or less crowded spaces.

Reading a Lancet report at breakfast table, Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, couple and founders of German firm BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), decided to dedicate all their resources to start developing a potential vaccine.

In a matter of two months, most pharma companies were scrambling to find out how they could apply their technology and expertise to find solutions for the pandemic.

Immediate disruption

Elective surgeries, routine appointments and even clinical trials were put on hold; producers of bandages and other medical equipment such as Smith & Nephew PLC (LON:SN.) are experiencing subdued demand to this day.

Patients have been reluctant to attend medical settings, where there are more chances to catch the virus than staying at home, while physicians assess the risks before calling people in.

Conversely, the quickest to address unmet needs have had a stellar year, especially those focused on vaccines since immunising the world seems the only way out the pandemic.

Vaccines broke all records

After partnering with US giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), BioNTech became the first company to have developed a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the authorities.

It was a record-breaking achievement on many fronts: firstly, it was ready for rollout in 10 months when most jabs require a minimum of five years; secondly, it was the first ever mRNA-based drug to be approved for human use.

“mRNA vaccines are what will be remembered from this year,” Adam Barker, analyst at UK broker Shore Capital, told Proactive.

“True that was in response to COVID-19, but this was a big year as a proof of concept for that technology and it will be very interesting to see how that technology is expanded going forward.”

While traditional vaccines expose the body to the inactivated virus to build a response in antibodies, mRNA instructs a patient’s own cells to produce proteins that could prevent disease.

Moderna Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRNA), which was the first biotech to take a COVID-19 vaccine into the last stage of trials, has also used the same type of mRNA technology in its inoculation, which has been approved in the US.

Another star of the show has been the jab developed by Oxford University in partnership with AstraZeneca (LON:AZN), which followed the traditional route and is expected to be approved in the UK by year-end.

2020 has truly been a year to remember for the Anglo-Swedish firm despite some COVID-19 vaccine setbacks, as it got a flurry of approvals for many oncology projects, while it entered 2021 with an agreement to buy US rare disease…