U.S. launches $5B program to speed up development of next-gen COVID vaccines
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The U.S. government is launching a $5B-plus program to accelerate the development of new coronavirus vaccines and treatments, officials from the Biden administration and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed Monday.
An HHS official said âProject Next Genâ will encourage public-private collaborations, similar to the âOperation Warp Speedâ program that helped develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccines under former President Donald Trump in 2020.
âWeâve begun surveying the landscape out there â assessing what vaccine candidates are available, [and] moving through what exciting technologies are there,â The Washington Post reported quoting Dawn OâConnell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the HHS.
OâConnell said that the government has already started efforts to search for private sector partners. âWeâve begun surveying the landscape out there â assessing what vaccine candidates are available, [and] moving through what exciting technologies are there,â he added.
âProject Next Genâ will focus on three main goals: speeding up the development of vaccines that produce mucosal immunity and those that target new COVID variants and other coronaviruses, and developing long-lasting monoclonal antibodies.
Leading COVID vaccine developers in the U.S.: Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech (BNTX), Moderna (MRNA), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Novavax (NVAX).
Other vaccine makers: Merck (MRK), Sanofi (SNY), and GSK (GSK)
Developers of monoclonal antibodies against COVID: Eli Lilly (LLY)-AbCellera (ABCL), GSK(GSK)/ Vir Biotechnology (VIR), Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) / Regeneron (REGN), and AstraZeneca (AZN) 
âThereâs a lot that government can do, the administration can do, to speed up those tools â¦ for the American people,â Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said.
According to Jha, the timeline for the market launch of new products will depend on multiple factors, including developersâ production plans and FDA reviews.
âThe timelines are really going to be predicated on how quickly the scientific advancements continue, and how quickly we can study and measure the efficacy and safety of these products,â he explained.
The program marks the U.S. response to an evolving virus that made the first generation of mRNA-based COVID vaccines and all FDA-authorized monoclonal antibodies ineffective against new coronavirus strains.