Pharmaceutical companies that are racing to develop vaccines for the coronavirus are already working behind the scenes to build the supply chains needed to deliver their drugs to billions of people as rapidly as possible. To serve global demand once a vaccine is approved, a complicated and high-stakes supply chain would kick into gear on a scale that the drug industry has rarely seen, writes The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 1, 2020). The preparations involve lining up raw materials and factory capacity to manufacture a vaccine in large volumes, and the equipment needed to transport many millions of doses at once through distribution channels that will be subject to tight security and temperature controls.
“Once a vaccine has been successfully developed, how do you get all the production you need, and how do you get it out?” said Senator McConnell.
Some of the companies involved are building this supply chain for the first time. Moderna, which just started final-stage testing of a vaccine, had never sold a product on the market. Neither has Novavax, a drug developer that was awarded a massive federal grant for vaccine manufacturing.
Pharmaceutical companies at the start will need to produce enough of what is known as the drug substance, the primary vaccine ingredient. Once they have produced the final liquid vaccine, they will need to fill vials with it, adding another hurdle to distribution. (J&J alone has bought 250 million vials). Medical glass has been in short supply since before the pandemic, and that shortage has worsened.
Logistics operators could be another speed bump. They have struggled at times during the pandemic amid upheaval in demand—particularly for consumer products and medical gear—that has left companies scrambling to find warehousing and transportation space. Airfreight capacity, which will be crucial for moving a vaccine in the early days of distribution, has been hit particularly hard because thousands of flights have been grounded since the pandemic began.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Why is this supply chain complex?
- How will the Covid supply chain differ from the beer supply chain in Figure 11.1 of your Heizer/Render/Munson text?