The vaccine

[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

This session will look at the development of a vaccine for COVID-19 and what cooperation is needed to fight the virus. More broadly it will examine the way in which bio-medical engineering is meeting the needs of changing demographics and creating a better future.[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Adrian%20Hill%20%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Professor%20of%20Human%20Genetics%3B%20director%20of%20the%20Jenner%20Institute%3B%20co-director%2C%20Oxford%20Martin%20Programme%20on%20Vaccines%3B%20Fellow%20of%20Magdalen%20College%20(United%20Kingdom)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Professor%20Adrian%20Hill%20is%20director%20of%20the%20Jenner%20Institute%2C%20which%20focuses%20on%20designing%20and%20developing%20vaccines%20for%20infectious%20diseases%20prevalent%20in%20developing%20countries%2C%20such%20as%20HIV%2FAIDS%2C%20malaria%20and%20tuberculosis.%20He%20also%20heads%20a%20group%20at%20the%20Wellcome%20Trust%20Centre%20for%20Human%20Genetics%20which%20studies%20genetic%20susceptibility%20factors%20for%20common%20bacterial%20diseases.%20He%20is%20a%20passionate%20believer%20in%20the%20power%20of%20molecular%20medicine%20to%20design%20and%20deliver%20new%20health%20care%20interventions%20that%20will%20improve%20the%20lives%20of%20the%20poorest%20billion%20in%20sub-Saharan%20Africa%20and%20elsewhere.%20His%20own%20vaccine%20research%20programme%20has%20developed%20one%20of%20the%20most%20promising%20potential%20vaccines%20for%20malaria%20which%20is%20currently%20in%20large%20scale%20trials%20in%20infants%20in%20sub-Saharan%20Africa.%20In%202014%20his%20group%20led%20the%20first%20clinical%20trial%20of%20an%20Ebola%20virus%20vaccine%20targeting%20the%20outbreak%20of%20Ebola%20in%20West%20Africa.%20The%20Jenner%20Institute%20has%20partnered%20with%20AstraZeneca%20on%20the%20global%20development%20and%20distribution%20of%20Oxford%E2%80%99s%20COVID-19%20vaccine.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2231899%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fadrian-hill-3a60686%2F%22%7D%2C%7B%22name%22%3A%22Geoffrey%20Ling%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22MD%2C%20founding%20director%20of%20the%20Biological%20Technologies%20Office%20of%20DARPA%3B%20Professor%20of%20Neurology%20and%20Neuro%20Critical%20Care%2C%20John%20Hopkins%20Medical%20Center%20(United%20States)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Geoffrey%20S.%20F.%20Ling%2C%20M.D.%2C%20Ph.D.%2C%20is%20a%20medical%20doctor%20who%20retired%20from%20the%20United%20States%20Army%20as%20a%20colonel.%20He%20served%20as%20the%20director%20of%20the%20Defense%20Advanced%20Research%20Projects%20Agency%20(DARPA)%20Biological%20Technologies%20Office%20and%20is%20an%20expert%20in%20traumatic%20brain%20injury%20(TBI).%5CnProminent%20in%20his%20research%20portfolio%20are%20neuroscience%2C%20specifically%2C%20preventing%20violent%20explosive%20neurologic%20trauma%20(PREVENT)%3B%20prevention%20of%20traumatic%20brain%20injury%3B%20and%20development%20of%20responsive%2C%20brain-controlled%2C%20artificial%20arms.%20He%20also%20serves%20as%20the%20deputy%20director%20of%20the%20Defense%20Sciences%20Office.%20Ling%20is%20a%20recipient%20of%20the%20Humanitarian%20Award%20from%20the%20Brain%20Mapping%20Foundation.%5CnLing%20earned%20his%20bachelor’s%20degree%20with%20honours%20from%20Washington%20University%2C%20and%20earned%20his%20doctorate%20in%20pharmacology%20from%20Cornell%20University%20School%20of%20Medicine.%20He%20completed%20postdoctoral%20training%20in%20neuropharmacology%20at%20the%20Sloan-Kettering%20Memorial%20Cancer%20Center.%20Ling%20earned%20an%20M.D.%20from%20Georgetown%20University%20School%20of%20Medicine.%20Both%20his%20neurology%20internship%20and%20later%20residency%20were%20completed%20at%20Walter%20Reed%20Army%20Medical%20Center.%20Ling%20also%20completed%20a%20fellowship%20at%20Johns%20Hopkins%20University%2C%20in%20the%20neurosciences%20critical%20care%20unit%20(NCCU).%5Cn%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2231900%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fgeoffrey-ling-6450423%2F%22%7D%5D” title=”Speakers” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Colin%20Tate%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Chief%20executive%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20(Australia)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Colin%20Tate%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20industry%20media%20publisher%20and%20conference%20producer%20since%201996.%20In%20his%20media%20career%2C%20Tate%20has%20launched%20and%20overseen%20dozens%20of%20print%20and%20electronic%20publications.%20He%20is%20the%20chief%20executive%20and%20major%20shareholder%20of%20Conexus%20Financial%2C%20which%20was%20formed%20in%202005%2C%20and%20is%20headquartered%20in%20Sydney%2C%20Australia.%20The%20company%20stages%20more%20than%2020%20conferences%20and%20events%20each%20year%20%E2%80%93%20in%20London%2C%20New%20York%2C%20San%20Francisco%2C%20Los%20Angeles%2C%20Amsterdam%2C%20Beijing%2C%20Sydney%20and%20Melbourne%20%E2%80%93%20and%20publishes%20five%20media%20brands%2C%20including%20the%20global%20website%20and%20strategy%20newsletter%20for%20global%20institutional%20investors%20conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com.%20One%20of%20the%20company%E2%80%99s%20signature%20events%20is%20the%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium.%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%20events%20aim%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts%2C%20as%20well%20as%20promote%20the%20long-term%20stability%20of%20markets%20and%20sustainable%20retirement%20incomes.%20Tate%20served%20for%20seven%20years%20on%20the%20board%20of%20Australia%E2%80%99s%20most%20high%20profile%20homeless%20charity%2C%20The%20Wayside%20Chapel%3B%20and%20he%20has%20underwritten%20the%20welfare%20of%2060%2C000%20people%20in%2028%20villages%20throughout%20Uganda%20via%20The%20Hunger%20Project.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2231893%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fcolin-tate-839a5a181%2F%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Key takeaways

Adrian

• In the last 48 hours, new vaccine trials have been started in Brazil and South Africa, supplementing the ongoing trial at Oxford.
• The aim is to have a vaccine trial result in September time and a proven vaccine shortly thereafter.
• 12 vaccines are currently in the clinic but the spirit is collaboration not competition given that up to 2 billion people may need to be vaccinated.
• This looks like a really doable vaccine.
• So far, no safety issues have been flagged with the current Oxford vaccine trials.
• It would be very surprising if by the end of the year we didn’t have significant evidence to suggest that multiple vaccines work.
• Never before have I seen so much money spent at risk in support of vaccine technology.

Geoffrey

• COVID-19 overwhelmed the ICU system and exhausted health care professionals.
• When patients are in an ICU, we are not discovering new care methods, we are applying known methods, however the cure is missing.
• We are expecting more waves of infection.
• The COVID-19 crisis is not at all unexpected amongst the medical community. COVID-19 has existed, somewhere, for 55 million years and comes after SARS, Ebola, and MERS.
• There is opportunity to invest in diagnostic testing and the technologies that have worked in this period

[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Unanswered questions and answers

Q: Could you talk a bit about the use of monoclonal antibodies as a potential prophylactic or treatment for COVID-19 (or other coronaviruses)? Asked by Jeremy Heer, CAIA Association A: Geoffrey Ling: Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) are very exciting and worthy of a dedicated FIS session. Yes, mAB can be used as both therapy and, if long lived in the body, as prophylaxis. The scientific community is working on this. In many ways, the mAB process is faster and cheaper than finding and then bringing to market a novel vaccine or small molecule drug, they have revolutionized the field of therapeutics. For example, Rituximab is remarkable in how effective it is with relatively low side effects. From an investment standpoint, mAB have been quite successful commercially.