Bottlenecks? Glass vial makers prepare for COVID-19 vaccine
12/06/2020 07:00
* Vial makers warn against hoarding by vaccine developers
* Schott AG says has turned down requests for 1 bln vials
* Schott, SGD say industry will meet pandemic demand
By Ludwig Burger and Matthias Blamont
FRANKFURT/PARIS, June 12 (Reuters) - Drugmakers are warning
of a potential shortage of vials to bottle future COVID-19
vaccines, but their rush to secure supplies risks making matters
worse, some major medical equipment manufacturers warn.
Schott AG, the world's largest maker of speciality glass for
vaccine vials, says it has turned down requests to reserve
output from major pharmaceutical firms because it does not want
to commit resources before it is clear which vaccines will work.
"We have to keep the door open to give capacity to those who
really are successful in the end. We don't want to be portrayed
in the press as the ones who were unable to package the best
vaccine," Chief Executive Frank Heinricht told Reuters.
With thousands dying from COVID-19 every day and attempts to
contain the virus plunging the world into recession, drugmakers
and healthcare groups including Pfizer PFE.N , AstraZeneca
AZN.L and the GAVI vaccines alliance are pushing to mass
produce vaccines even before they are shown to work in trials.
They want to be sure a successful jab can be rolled out as
quickly as possible to billions of people across the world.
But that is creating worries about supplies.
AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot; the head of the Coalition
for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Richard Hatchett;
and the director general of global drugmakers' lobby group
IFPMA, Thomas Cueni, have all warned there may not be enough
glass vials available for a global immunisation campaign.
Privately-held Schott, the biggest supplier of borosilicate
glass for medical bottles and syringes, is confident vial makers
can meet the challenge, but says it has had to make some very
difficult business decisions to try to ensure that is the case.
Heinricht said Schott had turned down requests from major
vaccine developers for future delivery of 800 million to 1
billion glass vials, which typically hold 5-10 doses, because
the company believed it was too early to make such a commitment.
"That is the dilemma we are in," Heinricht said, adding
Schott's cautious stance may have contributed to an industry
view that vials, which drugmakers buy for less than 10 euro
cents apiece, may become in short supply.
FACTBOX-Global pharma industry steps up efforts to battle
new coronavirus urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BH35E
EXPLAINER-Summer might slow coronavirus but is unlikely to
stop it urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2DN37V
EXPLAINER-What we know about the origins of the coronavirus
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PULLING OUT THE STOPS
France's SGD Pharma, a maker of vials and one of the world's
largest manufacturers of moulded glass for the pharmaceutical
industry, said it had a public health duty and would do
everything to avoid vial shortages.
"We trust our clients, with whom we have long standing
relationships, not to make speculative moves. If this was to be
the case, we would put the reputation and the mission of SGD
above any cash gain," Chief Executive Christophe Nicoli said.
He sought to allay concerns over shortages, saying SGD
expected an additional pandemic demand for vials of no more than
3% of underlying annual volumes.
Schott, whose founder Otto Schott invented heavy-duty
borosilicate glass in the 1890s, also said it was pulling out
all the stops for its part in supplying a billion multi-dose
vials which it says will be needed for a global immunisation
drive, potentially next year.
Schott, with 2.2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in annual
sales, competes in the market for borosilicate glass tubes with
Nippon Electric Glass 5214.T , Nipro 8086.T and Corning Inc
GLW.N .
It also makes the finished bottles, or vials, where it
competes in a more fragmented market with companies including
SGD, Germany's Gerresheimer GXIG.DE and Italy's Stevanato
Group.
Corning this week won $204 million in U.S. government
funding to boost output of its vials for COVID-19 vaccines and
treatments. That came a day after the U.S. government awarded
$143 million to SiO2 Materials Science to boost production of
its vials and syringes. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2DM31W
Schott's Heinricht said the industry supplies about 50
billion medical borosilicate containers per year, of which 15-20
billion are medical vials, even without a pandemic. The glass
type is favoured by the pharma industry because it does not
react with contents.
Schott and its peers will manage to add about 1 billion
vials likely needed for a global immunisation effort, he said.
That would require a vial to be used for multiple injections.
Schott has invested in glass and vial production over recent
years because China is switching to higher-quality borosilicate
containers, standing the company in good stead for the pandemic,
and 200 million euros were earmarked for new production lines
this year.
"The day a vaccine nears approval we will be ready and I am
certain that not only we but also our competitors will deliver,"
said Heinricht.
($1 = 0.8818 euros)
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EXPLAINER-Summer might slow coronavirus but is unlikely to stop
it urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2DN37V
FACTBOX-Global pharma industry steps up efforts to battle new
coronavirus urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BH35E
EXPLAINER-What we know about the origins of the coronavirus
pandemic urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2DN1FO
Status of potential COVID-19 vaccines, treatments https://tmsnrt.rs/2AsgBbX
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(Additional reporting by Edward Taylor in Frankfurt; Editing by
Josephine Mason and Mark Potter)
((ludwig.burger@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1311; Reuters
Messaging: ludwig.burger.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))