THE MAG

Pandemic justice

Who's to blame for pandemic inequities? Should developers of novel pandemic drugs, vaccines and diagnostics forgo protected rewards for their work, and allow that economic holiest of holies – exact production processes for platform technologies with multiple future applications – to be revealed to potential imitators? As the pandemic rages on, over 100 countries have said ‘yes’ to temporarily abolishing COVID-19-related intellectual property to try to ensure better access to medicines. Europe’s last opponent, Germany, is wobbling. But would the move really mean more vaccines and new drugs?

Further topics in this issue:

Novel breeding methods
NGO's manipulate EU consultation

(Bio)roads to zero
COP26 agreements won’t solve much on their own. Reaching emissions goals will require plenty of help from biotechnology, and the sector is pursuing many different innovative paths to achieve net zero. A wide range of products can be made from captured atmospheric CO2, and investors have gone keen on green.  But there are still plenty of challenges to overcome.

AMR – new wave of hope
In Autumn, the long-awaited PASTEUR Act was finally introduced into the US Senate as part of Cures 2.0 legislation. This step is seen as a key to reinvigorating the antibiotic ecosystem. Stakeholders are expecting hope that the German G7 presidency will push forward further pull incentives in Europe and beyond. Meanwhile, a new joint public-private AMR vaccine effort started and phage therapy received a financial push.

In focus: Gene & Cell Therapy – Waiting for a tech breakthrough
Since the US approval of the first AAV-based in vivo gene therapy Luxturna and the ex vivo lentiviral auto T-cell therapy Kymriah four and five years ago, respectively, the number of clinical trials and market expectations have skyrocketed but a lot of challenges remain.

Interview
Joachim Rothe, Managing Partner LSP

Country report
Ireland

Special BioFairs Compass 2022
Life Science events in H1