In the second of a two-part series, the managing director of Merck Healthcare Australia and New Zealand, Leah Goodman, discusses how the company is supporting the development of COVID-19 vaccines in Australia and globally.
Merck is working with South Australian vaccine developer, Vaxine, and Melbourne manufacturer, Sypharma, to develop a manufacturing platform for a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine candidate and selection of suitable adjuvant.
Merck is working collaboratively with scientists on the frontline of vaccine research at institutions around the world to accelerate the rapid testing of potential COVID-19 vaccines for safety and efficacy. Through its Life Science business, the company is supporting Australian biopharmaceutical and manufacturing efforts to develop a vaccine.
As Australia and the rest of the world pin their hope on a COVID-19 vaccine, Merck is bringing resources, scientific expertise and technology to more than 50 vaccine programs and more than 35 testing solutions around the world. Merck is also supporting work on some 20 monoclonal antibodies, plasma products and antivirals drugs used to fight COVID-19. Critically, there are no standard templates or processes for vaccine manufacturing, which has become increasingly more complex because of the diversity of modalities.
Merck has been working with the Jenner Institute of Oxford University researchers to develop a flexible vaccine manufacturing platform based on its novel adenovirus vector platform. The original goal of this collaboration was for a rabies vaccine candidate and the partnership has developed an efficient single-use process that can be quickly scaled up and deployed globally in response to COVID-19.
In another collaboration, Merck has been working with Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, on a schistosomiasis vaccine. Using key learnings from this collaboration, Merck, along with researchers at Baylor and the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, is improving the production process to advance two COVID-19 vaccine candidates. One of these is expected to enter clinical trials later this year. As Baylor's vaccine projects target low-income countries, Merck’s goal has been to help establish a robust, scalable process that allows for industrial production and produces inexpensive vaccines.
A third collaboration has been with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments for COVID-19.
Frontline healthcare workers caring for patients with COVID-19 are also using Merck technology. The company’s Performance Materials business has supplied the liquid crystal technology used in x-ray imaging technologies, ventilators and respirators as well as hospital monitors tracking the vital signs of ICU patients. It is these same liquid crystals in electronic devices that keep people connected all over the world.
Merck has prioritised the fight against COVID-19 and is working to identify potential solutions across the full spectrum of the pandemic, including prevention, symptom management, severe infection and recovery. The organisation is supporting the communities, patients, scientists and healthcare providers around the world who are navigating this crisis.
View part one here - Leah Goodman on backing the 'frontline response' to the pandemic.
