Pharma, Pharmaceutics and Biotechnology Conference

The nature of this global response to COVID-19 has posed unprecedented speed and collaboration in drug development, catapulting therapeutics aimed at combating SARS-CoV-2 from one of the fastest to the fastest, ever-developed. In this session, the multi-layered approach to drugs for COVID-19-from challenges experienced, innovative strategies deployed, and lessons learnt that could inform future responses to emerging infectious diseases-will be discussed. Traditionally, drug development at its early stages requires very much extensive research and clinical trials that have spanned years or even decades to get a product that works.

Due to the urgent need brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharmaceutical industry together with research institutions pushed this through in the most innovative way possible through adaptive trial designs that will allow the design to change at different stages based on the interim results and platform trials wherein more than one treatment can be tested all at the same time. Vaccine development has been among the major frontlines of the pandemic response. What was observed here, within months of the virus's emergence, was several vaccines receiving emergency use authorization. Among the most dramatic shifts in this approach to vaccine technology have been those around the mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer-Biotech and Modern.

This is because the produced synthetic mRNA instructs the cells to produce a harmless spike protein on the virus, causing a potent immune response against it, so it seems very safe and successful in preventing the causative agent of the COVID-19 infection. Parallel to vaccine development has been the search for effective antiviral therapeutics.

While remdesivir, an antiviral initially developed to treat other viral infections, was speed-tested and recently obtained emergency use authorization in hospitalized patients with serious COVID-19, oral antiviral treatments-Paxlovid and molnupiravir-were developed, greatly expanding the armamentarium to treat high-risk patients early. Monoclonal antibodies, another field in the therapeutic landscape, are a design that mimics the ability of the immune system to elicit the response that can abate pathogens.

In some cases, giving the antibody later in the course of illness has reduced the severity of disease and its association with hospitalization. The three main drug-related challenges involved the ability to move through regulatory pathways, ensuring equitable access to treatments worldwide, and the ability to address the emergence of viral variants that could potentially challenge the efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics.

This session will provide participants with an overview of key developments along the road to COVID-19 drug development, placing the emphasis on successes, challenges, and innovations. It will specifically discuss the importance of collaboration among pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and research institutions and their implications for future pandemic preparedness and response.