AstraZeneca: against COVID-19 ^Company

Entity: AstraZeneca

Category: Vaccine Development

Description: AstraZeneca is global innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company specialising in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription medicines that make a meaningful difference in healthcare. AstraZeneca discovers new medicines that are designed to improve the health and quality of life of patients around the world - medicines which are innovative, effective and which offer added benefits such as reduced side effects or better ways of taking the treatment. They also focus on getting the best from every medicine they make by exploring all the ways it can be used or improved. Their business strategy sets out their path to success in delivering great medicines to patients through innovative science and global excellence in development and commercialisation.

1. Project: Sources for antibodies

Summary: As part of the UK Government’s announcement of a new five pillar plan to boost testing for COVID-19, GSK, AstraZeneca and the University of Cambridge have formed a joint collaboration to take action to support this national effort. AstraZeneca said it is exploring three potential sources for antibodies against SARS CoV-2: Patients who have recovered from COVID-19, immunized humanized mice, and lab techniques such as phage display: “AstraZeneca is aiming for clinical evaluation in the next 3 to 5 months.” AstraZeneca also disclosed collaborations with external partners: The Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have provided genetic sequences for antibodies they have discovered against SARS2-CoV-2 for further in silico and in vitro assessment, while the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine are conducting preclinical safety and efficacy assessments of antibody candidates discovered through internal research.

2. Project: BIA industry-led vaccine manufacturing taskforce

Summary: Working closely with the Government and reporting directly into the Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance. The vaccine manufacturing group will consider any COVID-19 vaccines or therapies which emerge, regardless of whether the vaccine or therapy is UK or internationally based and look to help where it can. The industry-led vaccine manufacturing group began from conversations between Steve Bates OBE, Chief Executive of the BIA and key members of the life sciences manufacturing community, in early March. From these discussions, the BIA issued a UK manufacturing capacity audit which assessed UK capability to rapidly scale up any vaccine candidates and COVID-19 therapies. The group is a collaboration of the public sector, private sector companies, academia and universities, building on the UK’s world leading science base and is chaired by Ian McCubbin OBE, former VP for Global Manufacturing and Supply at GlaxoSmithKline.

The group is currently supporting the Jenner Institute’s adenovirus vaccine candidate at the University of Oxford, led by Dr Sandy Douglas, with Professor Sarah Gilbert and the Clinical BioManufacturing Facility. There has been a successful bid to UKRI in partnership with BIA members Pall, Fujifilm, Cobra, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, the Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC) and Oxford Biomedica to develop rapid scale up of such a vaccine. The group is also supporting the work of Imperial College London, led by Professor Robin Shattock, where the team is working on an mRNA vaccine, and AstraZeneca is also part of the association.