Two pieces of information are télescopées : on the one hand, France, Germany, Italy and the netherlands, which announce the pre-purchased 400 million doses of a hypothetical vaccine to the pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca, on the other, the european Commission will unveil on Wednesday a vaccine strategy for european pre-purchase... In fact, the Commission's initiative has been overtaken by the four States mentioned above. "The negotiations with AstraZeneca were too committed to turn back," says one to the Elysium. As a result, France, Germany, Italy and the netherlands have bought 400 million doses to cover the needs of all european citizens. It is a kind of catch-up in the course of road of a common strategy agreed upon by the european ministers of Health, meeting by video conference Friday, June 12, under the leadership of the Health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides.
Among the big hundred of companies who are in search of a vaccine against the Covid-19, the Commission will list the laboratories of more advanced protocols are the most promising and invest alongside businesses to help the pharmaceutical companies to test, certify, and then mass-produce the doses needed. The EU will therefore pay a portion of the financial risk. "Of course, all will fail and that is why we share the risk, said in Brussels. But, in return, the companies who will find the vaccine with the support of the EU will provide a guaranteed access to the member States to provide hundreds of millions of doses. "
The vaccine, a tool of geopolitics
" No region in the world is safe as long as we are not all in safety ", was pounding the commissioner Served at the end of the Friday meeting. The common strategy is to avoid competition between european countries, and intends to provide vaccine manufacturers with a one-stop shop simplified. "By working together, we will have the advantage of being to scale," resumed the commissioner for cyprus.
The european race to the vaccine is not devoid of a geopolitical dimension. Unlike in the United States who, under the guidance of Donald Trump, cultivating an approach to " America first ", Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the Commission, a medical doctor by training, continues to promote a global approach, multilateral, co-operative.
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The "Covithon" von der Leyen
The means of the european Commission are not sufficient to support the research. Of course, at the beginning of the pandemic, the horizon 2020 programme has been "boosted" 37.5 million additional euros to support work on diagnostic tests, vaccines and treatments anti-Covid19... But it is a pittance in light of the means necessary. In march, 17 research projects are selected of which some are pursuing the development of a prophylactic vaccine and a therapeutic vaccine.
to move to the top scale and fly in the face of the logic of every man for himself, Ursula von der Leyen will make phone calls to all the leaders of the planet to mount an event never seen before : a "Covithon" planetary in-line, titled " Coronavirus Global Response International ". On 4 may, the president of the Commission was thus able to scroll up and down in a dance of the baroque and by videoconference in all the planet members or ministers. The donors are called Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Giuseppe Conte, Shinzo Abe, but also Melinda and Bill Gates... The Saudis who chair the G20 have lent a hand (and offered nearly 457 million euros).
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China gives a tip
At the end of the sequence, Ursula von der Leyen brings a touch of glamour, announcing that Madonna has just to subscribe to a donation of one million euros. The objective : collected 7.4 billion euros of promises of gifts, of which 4 will be used to develop a vaccine, 2 for the treatment and 1.5 in the manufacture of the tests... Donald Trump refuses to join the initiative. The chinese leaders maintain the suspense until the last minute and concede, slightly, least 45.7 million euros. A tip when one considers that Canada has put on the table 551,5 million euros and Australia 205,6 million euros !
Since then, the collection has continued so that today the jackpot stands at € 9.8 billion. This money will, therefore, allow the joint investment in the pharmaceutical industry to support research in the vaccine and the sharing of it. A new event is also scheduled on June 27 to continue to raise funds. The money will be distributed primarily through healthcare organizations worldwide recognized such as the Coalition for innovations in the field of epidemic preparedness (Cepi, according to the English acronym), the Gavi alliance (global Alliance for vaccines and immunization), and the fund Unitaid.
outside of the vaccine, the Commission also invested 166 million euros through the european Council on innovation, under the responsibility of the commissioner Mariya Gabriel. 36 companies helping to fight the pandemic through pioneer projects have been selected. Among these, four are French. It is Xenothera, a biotechnology company in nantes (for a drug comprised of antibodies), of Osivax (a biotechnology company in lyon), of Cypheme (which protects against counterfeit masks) and Archeon (the ventilation devices smart).
