1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day three hundred 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: and thirty five since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: Today's main story. Demand for the Fightser bio n tech 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: vaccine has outstripped the partnership's ability to produce it fast enough, 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: so they're turning to creative solutions like retrofitting factories that 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: were designed to do other things. But first, here's what 7 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: happened in virus news today. President Joe Biden announced that 8 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:46,559 Speaker 1: the US will pay one point nine five billion dollars 9 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: for an additional one hundred million doses of the Fightser 10 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen vaccine. The amount is consistent with agreements made 11 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: for the prior two hundred million doses bought by the government. 12 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: That's according to a statement from Fiser. Today. Biden said 13 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: the government was also acquiring one hundred million doses of 14 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: the vaccine made by Moderna. The UK government said it 15 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: is confident the country's coronavirus epidemic is shrinking. The reproduction 16 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: rate of the disease. That's the average number of people 17 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: a COVID nineteen infected person transmits it to drop to 18 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: levels last scene. In July, new data from the Office 19 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: for National Statistics also showed coronavirus infections fell for a 20 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: fourth week, with around one in eighty people in England 21 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: having the disease versus one in sixty five people the 22 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: previous week. Finally, a new study shows that blood thinning 23 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: drugs reduce the risk of death from COVID nineteen. It's 24 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: one more promising tool as physic asians scour their medicine 25 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: cabinets for treatments to fight the pandemic. About fourteen percent 26 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: of patients who were given the anticoagulant heperin within twenty 27 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: four hours of hospital admission died from the coronavirus, compared 28 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: with of those who weren't given the anti coagulant. That's 29 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: according to a study published today in the British Medical Journal. 30 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,119 Speaker 1: The study is based on observation, which means the results 31 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: need to be confirmed by clinical trials. And now for 32 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: today's main story on the outskirts of Merburg, a small 33 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: college town in Germany, coronavirus vaccine manufacturer bio n Tech 34 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,119 Speaker 1: has spent five frantic months renovating one of its factories 35 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: to produce m r N a demand for the vaccine 36 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: has been so massive that the Fieser Bio and Tech 37 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: Partnership can't meet it with its existing facilities, hence the 38 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: race to retrofit factories that weren't initially designed to support 39 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: the vaccine. Berlin based reporter Naomi Kreski reports that success 40 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: would mean being able to vaccinate about three d and 41 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: seventy five million more people per year and help bring 42 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: the pandemic under control. That worrying sound is coming from 43 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: a machine called a bioreactor, used in the early stages 44 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: of making an MR and a vaccine. This particular bioreactor 45 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,119 Speaker 1: is installed in a clean room in Marburg, Germany. It's 46 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: early February and three BioNTech workers in hazmat suits are 47 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: huddled at a lab bench to oversee the process. Sirc Pudding, 48 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: BioNTech's chief find ential Officer and head of operations, says 49 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: this bioreactor is completing just the first step in making 50 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: the vaccine. There are four steps basically to make a vaccine, 51 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: four to five steps. So basically the first thing what 52 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: you have to do is you take a blueprint off 53 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: the data that you want to imprint onto the m 54 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: R and A. So this is called the DNA plasmid. 55 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: The plasmid DNA conventional shots introduce a dead or weakened 56 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: virus into the body, but the BioNTech vaccine uses m RNA. 57 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: These shots tell the body how to produce a harmless 58 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: copy of a key portion of the virus. It essentially 59 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: turns the body into its own vaccine factory. In the bioreactor, 60 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: the chain of chemical reactions silently unfolds inside a giant 61 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:56,919 Speaker 1: plastic bag outside the clean room, but close enough to 62 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 1: help quickly if needed. About fifty other bio tech employees, 63 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: from quality control to engineering, monitor the process. They're ready 64 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 1: to jump in in case something goes wrong. This is 65 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: the moment of truth for the company's new factory. It's 66 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: conducting a test run that is required by the European 67 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: Medicines Agency or EMAIL. We start with the drug substance 68 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: and then if this works out, we'll do the drug 69 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: product and then by end of the month we have 70 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: all the results basically, and then we send them off 71 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: to the EMAIL and they can look at it and 72 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: verify it. So basically, by end of March, if the 73 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: data is fine, the email gives us the improving We 74 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: can use these test batches to actually put them into 75 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: the market. The factory is scaling up at a time 76 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: when politicians are leaning hard on vaccine makers to produce 77 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: more shots. If it works, it will let them make 78 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: enough shots to successfully vaccinate three and seventy five million 79 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: more people a year. But getting to this moment has 80 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: not been so simple. Pulling together a production plant to 81 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: make a new vaccine and a relatively short amount of 82 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: time is a massive logistical challenge. Stick started thinking about 83 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: this plan in April, while BioNTech and Visor's researchers were 84 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,840 Speaker 1: still developing the shot. He started by expanding the existing 85 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:31,039 Speaker 1: production line at BioNTech's headquarters in Mines, Germany, but he 86 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: says that wasn't enough. Then over the summer he found 87 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: a potential solution, an old vaccine factory that Swiss drugs 88 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: giant no Vardes was interested in selling. We scouted the 89 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:48,239 Speaker 1: facility and looked around. Maybe there's some equipment already that's usable, 90 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: For example, bioreactors. You can use birectors to produce antibodies, 91 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: but you can also produce biorectors for MR and a 92 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: production so lo and behold, they actually did have two 93 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: of the biorectors that we needed, so we didn't have 94 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: to buy this anymore. Novartis had used the site to 95 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: make vaccines for swine flu, tetanus, and rabies, then retro 96 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: fitted it to make complex biological medicines. It came with 97 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: three hundred trained workers. Sik knew it would need to 98 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: be retrofitted again, but that would be far easier than 99 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: starting from scratch. The German government gave BioNTech a roughly 100 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty million dollar grant to help scale up. 101 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: In September, the company announced the purchase by November, when 102 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: a huge clinical trial showed that the Vaccine Works six 103 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: team was already knocking down walls, changing the heating and 104 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: ventilation system at the plant. He says, there are a 105 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: lot of regulatory boxes to tick when you renovate a 106 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: drug factory. They look at your way house, They look 107 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: at your processes, how you put stuff into the way house. 108 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: They look at the stuff. If you have quarantine material, 109 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: can you access it easily or is it really under 110 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: quarantine and and safe with the system. Is the computer 111 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: system up and running? How did you validate the computer system? 112 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: But also as simple things like the paint of the 113 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: wall okay or is there a chip, paint and stuff 114 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: like that. So look at all the stuff they look 115 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: at your documentation. That brings us back to the process 116 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: of making the m r and A. After Circing, his 117 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: team finished the first step producing the m rn A, 118 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: he says, you need to filter out any dirt and 119 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: create a very clean product. The next step requires a 120 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,560 Speaker 1: high pressure pump used to mix the MR and A 121 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: with fatty lipids. This is another challenge for any company 122 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: that wants to build an MR and A facility. These 123 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: pumps can take up to six months to obtain because 124 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:50,839 Speaker 1: they're only made to order. So after you have this 125 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: clean MR and A you encapsulated, you basically take these 126 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: so called lipids, which are like um oily droplets, and 127 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: you package the RNA and those That's what how you 128 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: do this with a pump under high pressure, under certain temperature, 129 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: with a certain velocity. BioNTech also had to figure out 130 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 1: how to obtain the lipids at all during a pandemic. 131 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: They were never used much before the advent of m 132 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: r and A vaccines, but they're crucial. They ensure the 133 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,319 Speaker 1: m RNA doesn't break down in the body. Syru ordered 134 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: as much as he could have them last March, about 135 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: the time that BioNTech and Fiser signed their development deal. 136 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: All those months of work came to a head on 137 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: February nine, when the team made its first test batch 138 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: of m R and A. Although the vaccine technology is new, 139 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: the actual production is simpler than for some older technologies. 140 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: That's because there's no need to cultivate or feed living cells. 141 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: It boils down to please at the plasmid, now, please 142 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: at the buffer, now stirred for X minutes at x 143 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: degrees and then a low of the temperature and at 144 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: some enzymes and stuff like. It's really it's really cooking. Actually, 145 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: it took like twenty years to optimize the recipe and 146 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: find the ingredients and optimize the ingredients, but eventually it's 147 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: really cooking up. Scaling up the production of an m 148 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: R and A vaccine still takes some finesse. Though. If 149 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: you cook at home and you cook something with I 150 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: don't know, ten million or a hundred million liters or 151 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: so for a sauce or so, and if you then 152 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: want to make like ten times the sauce for it's 153 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: called Thanksgiving or something, it might not work because then 154 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: everything is a little bit different. So the consistency is different, 155 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: and the way you have to put in your ingredients 156 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: is a little bit different. This initial badge should produce 157 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: enough MR and a material to make about eight million 158 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: doses of vaccine. If the process succeeds, BioNTech should be 159 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: able to stockpile the test batches and ship them to 160 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: customers by April. But if something goes wrong, they'll have 161 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: to try again. Sis says, this could be something as 162 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: small as a contamination caused by a puncture and a 163 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,319 Speaker 1: sterile glove wrapper. It's not a slam dunk that this works. 164 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: That's why you prepare everything with ten ten sets of 165 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: ice actually and planet meticulously that that it works for 166 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: the first time. It's a key week. Yes, it's a 167 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:18,679 Speaker 1: key week. Yes so far. By On text says everything 168 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 1: has gone well. If everything continues like this, the factory 169 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: is on track to be able to make up to 170 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: two and fifty million doses of the vaccine in the 171 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:43,959 Speaker 1: first half of this year. And that was Naomi Kraski 172 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: And that's it for our show to Day. For coverage 173 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,559 Speaker 1: of the outbreak from one and twenty bureaus around the world, 174 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: visit Bloomberg dot com slash coronavirus and if you like 175 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: the show, please leave us a review and a rating 176 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to 177 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: help more listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis Daily 178 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: edition is produced by Top for foreheads Magnus and Rickson 179 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: and me Laura Carlson. Today's main story was reported by 180 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: Naomi Kresky. Original music by Leo Sidrin. Our editors are 181 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: Rick Shine and Francesco Levi. Francesco Levi is Bloomberg's head 182 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:24,960 Speaker 1: of podcasts. Thanks for listening.