Sunil Punjabi, Country Speaker & Head of Research Solutions Commercial, Merck India outlines how the COVID-19 pandemic is resetting some priorities for the pharma sector and how the sector will have to transform to build more resilience to tackle healthcare challenges in future. He also speaks about Merck’s contribution to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, in an interview with Lakshmipriya Nair
What are the major lessons that drug makers need to learn from this pandemic to improve resilience and preparedness for pandemics and health emergencies?
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the important role that diagnostics and vaccine development will have in how we deal with pandemics in the future. It is important that we employ as many approaches as possible in identifying a virus as well as in the development of a vaccine or treatment. Diagnostic tests play a critical role here. These tests help physicians determine the presence or absence of a disease in patients, and their findings are used in making treatment decisions. Further to testing, it is key that vaccine developers have an eye on the planning for large-scale production of the therapy.
In the mid to long term, because public health experts have indicated that we will face future pandemics, we must pay attention and consider how our healthcare systems can respond most effectively in the future. In order to do that, we must keep track of the lessons learned during this current global crisis.
How has it forced pharma companies to redraw their business strategies and focus areas?
There are no standard manufacturing templates or processes due to the complexity and diversity of vaccine modalities, which makes production a challenge for every organisation developing COVID-19 vaccines. Manufacturers understand that collaborating with the global scientific community is more important than ever to accelerate vaccine and treatment candidates.
We are supporting many of our customers working on COVID-19 projects through our products and services, which enable more than 35 testing solutions, over 50 different vaccine candidates and more than 20 monoclonal antibody, plasma products and antivirals
Can you elaborate on the long-term changes that will be inevitable for pharma companies/businesses to remain relevant and competitive in the post pandemic world?
While it is still too early to talk about long-term changes required, some of the areas that organisations could be looking are supply chain resilience (e.g., leveraging agile supply networks with the ability to move goods through different trade lanes), digital tool and technology adoption, as well as a workforce that is agile and adapts quickly to the new ways of working.
This crisis also highlights the need for a strong regulatory organisation and agile framework to ensure efficacy, accuracy and patient safety. We have found that deep relationships built on respect, trust and collaboration with the logistics industry and government officials are critical.
What kind of course correction and reinvention are we witnessing as a result of this pandemic, especially in pharma R&D?
COVID-19 has accelerated innovation and experimentation in therapy development and clinical trials. An eye on commercialisation and greater engagement with regulatory authorities has also become important.
With the current COVID-19 vaccine candidates, many developers are leveraging already approved virus platforms to accelerate this complex development process from ten years down to one, applying existing technology from previous vaccine development programs to this novel coronavirus sequence. For example, our collaboration to support Oxford University’s vaccine candidate leveraged an existing platform that was used for vaccines against rabies and Ebola, among others. Similarly, our support for Baylor College of Medicine’s vaccine candidates both repurposed a SARS vaccine candidate and stemmed from our previous collaborative work to develop a vaccine targeting schistosomiasis, a deadly waterborne disease carried by parasites. This strategy will undoubtedly continue to accelerate numerous vaccine development processes while preserving their safety and efficacy going forward.
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