The British Biotech Sector Amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic

Summary

• The coronavirus pandemic came as a boon for several companies working in the biotech industry, as new work emerged for the development of vaccine and other therapeutics for the treatment of the ailment.
• Governments across the world have come forward to support research on this novel strain of the coronavirus and are providing grants and forward buying potential vaccines even when they are not fully proven yet.
• Any and all successful vaccine candidates provide a massive revenue potential for their developers as the entire world pullulation would require vaccination against this pandemic.

The biotechnology sector across the world has come to the rescue of the human race, as the second line of attack against the coronavirus pandemic. The first one, of course, being the health authorities who have put in all efforts to contain the spread of the virus and treating the already infected and saving as many lives as they can. Within a few days of the outbreak, it became clear that a practical stop on this pandemic can be put only by an effective vaccine, with most of the world population needing inoculation in a short span of time. Thus, a race started between institutional as well as corporate bioresearch groups to develop a vaccine as soon as possible. This vaccine, no matter who develops first and how many of them get developed, would have a very high revenue potential for their makers as the entire world population would be its potential market. The prospects of British vaccine developers in these efforts have an advantage over other competitors across the world. They started their development process early and their candidates are scheduled to complete their clinical trials ahead of the rest, they have also signed in several forward deals for the supply of the vaccines to multiple countries across the world.

Current research efforts on the vaccine and their availability to the general public

Currently, the research efforts against the coronavirus pandemic are targeted at three directions: diagnostics, treatment development and vaccine development. Several British companies are working in these areas, with their efforts being in various stages of development. However, the vaccine development work in the country is receiving maximum world attention. The Jenner Institute of the Oxford University one of the first in the world to have started development work on a vaccine for the virus. Its efforts which have received government, as well as corporate support, may become one of the first available for the general public. Second vaccine development in the UK is being carried out by the Imperial College of London, which has also advanced a lot in terms of clinical trials. It is likely that the vaccines will be able to complete all their development requirements as per the schedule given by their developers and are made available to the masses before the end of this year.

Performance of Four biopharma companies in the UK amidst the pandemic

1. AstraZeneca Plc -The company has also tied up with the Jenner Institute of Oxford University for the coronavirus vaccine development work that is being carried out there. The Jenner institute vaccine candidate currently, is far ahead of its competitors in terms of progress that has been made in clinical trials and is scheduled for public availability by September of this year. The company is already in the process of manufacturing millions of doses of this vaccine and shall be hitting the market once different regulatory approvals are received.

Apart from that, during the year 2020, the company has also made some high-value addition to its oncology portfolio, which could become star revenue earners in the near future.

AstraZeneca Plc is the Cambridge United Kingdom headquartered one of the worlds largest biopharmaceutical company. Its operations span across the entire value chain of pharmaceutical biotechnology research including development, commercialization and manufacturing of prescription drugs, vaccines, and other therapeutics. The shares of AstraZeneca Plc trade on the NASDAQ, LSE, and the Nordic Nasdaq of Stockholm.

2. GlaxoSmithKline Plc - The company has entered into two agreements over the past few months for the development of coronavirus vaccine , first with French pharmaceutical major Sanofi and the other with a Canadian company called Medicago. Both of these vaccine development candidates are in various stages of clinical trials. The company’s vaccine joint venture with Sanofi has received support from the US government Op Warp Speed for the speedy development of the vaccine, plus it has also entered into an agreement with the British government for the supply of 60 million doses of its vaccine.

This company is also a British origin global pharmaceutical major and supply’s medicines and vaccines that feature amongst the WHO list of essential medicines.

3. Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc – The company is one of the largest manufacturers of generic drug formulations in the United Kingdom of both branded, as well as in-licensed therapeutics in the United Kingdom. Through the pandemic, its injectable division has seen double-digit growth as there was increased demand for its products in EU as well as the US in the treatment of pandemic infected patients.

The company mainly operates in the United Kingdom, Africa, the Middle East, and the United States of America, while also having a presence across various other territories.

4. Oxford Biomedica Plc - This company was chosen by AstraZeneca Plc to partner in the production of the vaccine currently being developed at the Jenner Institute of the Oxford University and licensed to AstraZeneca. Both companies have plans to make as many as one billion doses of this vaccine, to be distributed in the UK as well as outside.

Oxford Biomedica is a leading British, fully integrated, gene and cell therapy group focused company. The company manufactures a lentiviral vector delivery platform called LentiVector, which is used further in the development of Vivo and ex vivo products. The company has a high-value proprietary portfolio of gene and cell therapy products in the areas of CNS disorders, oncology, ophthalmology, liver diseases as well as respiratory disease.

The company is a spin-off of the Oxford University, which made an IPO in 1996, and its shares trade on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) segment of the London Stock Exchange.