Political setbacks curb development of next-generation Covid vaccines

A lack of funding and political will is hampering efforts to develop the next generation of vaccines that could protect millions of people from emerging new pathogens, experts have warned.

The next wave of vaccines is intended to improve on the Covid-19 jabs rolled out in late 2020 by offering longer-lasting or broader protection against a variety of variants and, potentially, other coronaviruses. The focus is on alternative products such as nasal sprays, inhalers and tablets, making them easier to administer, manufacture or distribute.

But the sense of urgency from politicians and policymakers that propelled the swift development of the first Covid-19 vaccines is not being replicated. Critics blame a mixture of public apathy, disputes over funding and the politicisation of the pandemic response.

US president Joe Biden’s declaration last month that “the pandemic is over” wiped more than $10bn off the value of Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, undermining the chance of breakthroughs at a time when low uptake of booster jabs and waning immunity are pushing up infection rates.

“The politics of Covid really impacts research all the way from funding availability to access to vaccines [for research purposes] and general public sentiment,” said Akiko Iwasaki, professor of immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine. “If you hear enough times that Covid is over, no one’s going to want to pursue the next-generation vaccines.”

A Yale team led by Iwasaki is developing a Covid-19 booster that is sprayed directly into the nose. Initial studies in mice produced encouraging results. But the huge cost of conducting clinical trials and regulatory hurdles are slowing progress on such projects, according to Iwasaki, who urges government intervention to break the logjam.

In the US, that seems to be a distant prospect. In early October, Congress blocked a request by the Biden administration for an extra $22.4bn to fight Covid-19. Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, has warned that failure to approve new funding could delay development of several promising vaccine candidates, which would otherwise be ready for large clinical trials within a year.

“If you really want to get into larger clinical trials of candidates, when you partner with industry . . . I cannot do that unless I do get resources from Congress,” he said.

Richard Hatchett, chief executive of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said his organisation had allocated about $200mn to support research into more broadly protective vaccines against a range of coronaviruses, while the US’s National Institutes of Health had earmarked $36.3mn. 

However, he said it was “very surprising and disappointing” that “there isn’t a more concerted global effort to support that work. We aren’t seeing similarly scaled investments from the UK, the [European Commission], Japan and others”.

While it was “undeniable that most countries have moved into a different phase of their coexistence with the virus”, Hackett added that “there’s nothing to say that Sars-Cov-2, which has demonstrated its tremendous evolutionary potential on multiple occasions already, couldn’t mutate further to become more virulent or resistant to the vaccines we have”. 

Some countries including Japan as well as the EU have set up bodies to strengthen their capacity to anticipate, and respond to, future threats, but Hatchett said more urgent action was needed to develop advanced vaccines.

The commission said Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme, had set aside funding of up to €40mn in 2022 for developing next-generation vaccines; research proposals were currently “under evaluation”, it said, declining to reveal further details. The earlier Horizon 2020 programme is also contributing €100mn to CEPI to support work on Covid-19 vaccines. A portion of this money may be allocated to the development of a broadly protective coronavirus vaccine candidate as part of the coalition’s $200mn programme.

The UK has sought to position itself at the forefront of vaccine development. In June, the government struck a deal with Massachusetts-based Moderna to build a UK research and manufacturing centre. A research facility opened by the Health Security Agency in February at Porton Down in Wiltshire has already been “crucial in testing their effectiveness” of new vaccines that attack two or more strains of coronavirus, said Dr Bassam Hallis, its deputy director of research and evaluation.

However, officials instrumental in the initial pandemic vaccine response suggested the political leadership and focus that characterised the first phase may have dissipated. Dame Kate Bingham, who led the UK’s Vaccines Task Force (VTF) for seven months from its formation in May 2020, was directly appointed by then prime minister Boris Johnson.

“The sense of urgency and fear in 2020 was completely different. The fact that they were willing to bring in a group from the outside, and allow me to hire a team . . . is quite unlike what government has usually done,” said Bingham.

The UK’s business department has handed the vaccine development portfolio to the UKHSA, with former VTF executive Philippa Harvey leading the vaccines unit. Bingham suggested the agency “doesn’t seem to have any power or money or accountability to engage with innovators”. She and her team had been “able to go to academics or companies, and say, ‘we’d like to work with you and we have the budget to do so’,” she added.

The UKHSA said it would continue “to work closely with vaccine developers, experts and academia” on early detection and response initiatives.

Back in the US, Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said the Biden administration had failed to confront the Republicans over their failure to approve new funding.

He added that, on some measures, the US had been overtaken by India and China, which had approved nasal and oral vaccines. India’s Bharat Biotech this month said it had received approval for emergency use of its two-dose nasal vaccine for use by people aged 18 years and over.

“You’ve got to pursue all paths to take control of the pandemic, get ahead of it and contain the virus,” said Topol. “That is not being done.”