Pharmaceutical Processing World

  • Home
  • Regulatory
    • Recalls
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Facility
  • Supply Chain
  • Enterprise Technology
  • Contract Manufacturing
  • R&D 100 Awards

How much could Operation Warp Speed change pharma, medtech distribution?

By Chris Newmarker | October 7, 2020

Operation Warp Speed COVID-19 vaccine

[Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash]

A top U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official used an appearance today at a virtual medtech conference to repeat the U.S. government’s astounding goal for its Operation Warp Speed program: start delivering 300 million doses of a safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021.

The project could revolutionize not only how pharmaceuticals are distributed, but also medical devices and ancillary supplies, HHS Assistant Secretary Dr. Robert Kadlec claimed during The Virtual Medtech Conference hosted by AdvaMed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with U.S. Defense Department support is collaborating with the private sector — as well as state and local authorities — to meet Operation Warp speed goals, Kadlec said. Top private sector partners include McKesson, which has a COVID-19 vaccine distribution agreement with HHS and DoD, as well as providers of ancillary supplies such as Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX).

“When a dose of vaccine is approved by the FDA, no corner is cut, no shortcut is taken. We can basically deploy that vaccine and begin administering it in 24 hours. That is an extraordinary target and goal that Warp Speed has,” Kadlec said.

As HHS explained while releasing distribution strategy documents in September, McKesson will work under CDC’s guidance, with logistical support from DoD, to ship COVID-19 vaccines to administration sites.

The vaccine distribution will go through three phases, according to the strategy documents. The distribution will start in a focused manner, with the goal of maximizing vaccine acceptance and public health protection while minimizing waste and inefficiency. As more vaccine doses become available, distribution will expand to the wider population. Americans will receive the government-purchased vaccines at no cost.

Top experts inside the government — including Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Dr. Robert Redfield of the CDC — have said the U.S. could be months into 2021 before a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available.

For now, the federal government is making investments in the necessary manufacturing capacity at its own risk — even as a handful of vaccine candidates remain in Phase 3 clinical trials. FDA told COVID-19 vaccine developers yesterday that it needs two months’ worth of safety data before it will consider emergency approvals — defying calls from President Donald Trump to hurry up the vaccine approval process.

 

 

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

Related Articles Read More >

coronavirus COVID-19 Pfizer
7 core strategies in Biden’s battle against COVID-19
Pfizer BioNTech
Pfizer, BioNTech to provide up to 40M COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX
Biden
Biden leaning on Defense Production Act to bolster COVID-19 vaccine supplies
Amazon offers to help Biden administration with vaccine distribution

DeviceTalks Tuesdays

DeviceTalks Tuesdays

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.

Need Pharmaceutical Processing news in a minute?

We Deliver!
Pharmaceutical Processing Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need. Sign up today.
Enews Signup

R&D Twitter

Tweets by @RandDWorld
Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • Enews Signup
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • R&D World
  • DeviceTalks
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • MassDevice
  • Medical Design Sourcing

Copyright © 2021 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Pharmaceutical Processing

  • Home
  • Regulatory
    • Recalls
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Facility
  • Supply Chain
  • Enterprise Technology
  • Contract Manufacturing
  • R&D 100 Awards