The CEO of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has revealed his company is trying to speed up vaccine development to under 100 days, warning t...
The CEO of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has revealed his company is trying to speed up vaccine development to under 100 days, warning there is a 'high possibility' that vaccines in the future would not be effective.
New York-based Pfizer was the first company in the world to produce a COVID-19 vaccine, which is currently being administered worldwide.
Yet Albert Bourla, CEO, told the virtual 2021 Davos World Economic Forum that vaccines may one day not be a solution, in a session held on Friday.
'It's a very high likelihood that one day that will happen,' Bourla said, according to Business Insider.
Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, spoke at a virtual Davos summit on Friday
His company's vaccine against COVID-19 was the first to be approved
Bourla said Pfizer was working toward speeding up vaccine research and development in the event that happened.
Bourla said that, in preparation for future pandemics, they intend to move from recognizing the disease threat to getting a vaccine authorized in less than 100 days - a timeline even shorter than the 300-day goal put forth last year by the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed.
COVID-19 vaccinations have been developed in record speed, due to technological advances, massive funding and public willingness to participate in trials.
Bourla was one of four speakers at a panel discussing the need for collaboration between businesses and governments to combat future threats to human health.
He was joined by Norway's foreign minister, Ine Eriksen Soreide; the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; Germany's health minister Jens Spahn; and Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation.
Bourla warned that the world could not become complacent about vaccines
Bourla said Pfizer was working to speed up the vaccine development process
Hatchett stressed the need to be prepared for recurrences, according to the site.
'Governments must recognize emerging infectious diseases and pandemic threads are an existential threat to our society,' Hatchett, a former Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority director, said.
'They are an emergent property of the way we live.'
Hatchett said governments must invest in preparing for future pandemics, warning that future pandemics may be even more lethal.
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