Keeping malaria in sight during COVID-19

We have joined the global World Malaria Day 2020 campaign, led by our partner RBM Partnership to End Malaria under the theme ‘Zero Malaria Starts With Me’. Our leaders have contributed with thought leadership and communication activities exploring the the link between malaria and COVID-19.

• Bayer Foundation: to prevent covid-19 from spreading in Senegal, the Bayer Foundation collaborated with its partners, the Senegal Ministry of Health and the health organization PATH. Together, they have redesigned the existing Bayer Foundation anti-malaria program to provide a quick covid-19 response, including using their network of well-trained community champions, normally only used to disseminate malaria prevention messages, to spread prevention messages around Covid-19. PATH will support the implementation of a digital Covid-19 surveillance tracker and provide healthcare workers (nurses, lab staff, and district management teams) with training on patient case management, sample collection and referral for Covid-19 samples.

BAAM members Sumitomo Chemical, Vestergaard and Bayer continue developing, manufacturing, and distributing innovative PBO – LLINs and Indoor Residual Sprays to fight malaria. They continue to invest in the development and scale up of innovative tools and technologies to beat malaria and other deadly mosquito-borne diseases, and to distribute innovative PBO – LLINs and Indoor Residual Sprays to malaria-effected communities.

BAAM members have been relying on their highly resilient and adaptive supply chains to ensure that life-saving malaria prevention, diagnostic tools and treatments keep reaching vulnerable populations affected by malaria.

Moreover, door-to-door distribution of LLINs has replaced the usual distribution of nets at public gatherings in many countries, like in Benin, to minimize people’s exposure to COVID-19 during the distribution process.

BAAM members are as well ensuring production continuity. For instance, BAAM member Vestergaard has reassured that production would not come to a halt and that the mosquito nets would be ready for shipment before monsoon season when malaria transmission is at its peak.

BAAM Member Bayer has been prioritizing supply of IRS products for endemic countries for which Bayer has orders.

As of 14 April, GSK is joining forces with Sanofi—two of the world’s biggest vaccine companies and members of the Business Alliance Against Malaria— to combine their innovative technologies to develop an adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine.

The candidate vaccine is expected to enter clinical trials in the second half of 2020 and, if successful, to be available in the second half of 2021. Sanofi will contribute its S-protein COVID-19 antigen, which is based on recombinant DNA technology. This technology has produced an exact genetic match to proteins found on the surface of the virus, and the DNA sequence encoding this antigen has been combined into the DNA of the baculovirus expression platform, the basis of Sanofi’s licensed recombinant influenza product in the US. GSK will contribute its proven pandemic adjuvant technology to the collaboration. Both GSK and Sanofi are committed to making any vaccine developed through the collaboration affordable to the public and through mechanisms that offer fair access for people in all countries.

This initiative is funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Sanofi Pasteur is therefore expanding its long-standing partnership with BARDA, which includes an agreement signed last year to establish state of the art facilities in the United States for the sustainable production of an adjuvanted recombinant vaccine for use in the event of an influenza pandemic and based on the same technology platform that is being used for the COVID-19 program.
GSK and Sanofi are also sharing their experience in vaccine research and development with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

BAAM members Sanofi, GSK, Fosun Pharma and Novartis are all committed in the research of a vaccine against covid-19.

• Sanofi Pasteur / Translate Bio: Sanofi Pasteur and Translate Bio, a clinical-stage messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics company, are collaborating to develop a novel mRNA vaccine for COVID-19. This collaboration leverages an existing agreement from 2018 between the two companies to develop mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases.

• Clover Biopharmaceuticals / GSK : GSK is providing Clover Biopharmaceuticals, a China based global clinical-stage biotechnology company, with its vaccine adjuvant technology to support their respective COVID-19 vaccine research programs.

• Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co / GSK: GSK has teamed up with Xiamen Innovax Biotech to evaluate a vaccine against the novel coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement gives Innovax access to a GSK adjuvant to enhance the immune response triggered by its recombinant protein-based vaccine.

• University of Queensland/ GSK : The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is an innovative global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organizations launched in Davos in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics. CEPI is coordinating engagements between GSK and entities funded by CEPI who are interested in testing their vaccine platform with GSK’s adjuvant technology to develop effective vaccines against 2019-nCoV. The first agreement to formalize this arrangement has been signed between GSK and the University of Queensland, Australia, which entered a partnering agreement with CEPI in January 2019 to develop a “molecular clamp” vaccine platform, intended to enable targeted and rapid vaccine production against multiple viral pathogens. CEPI has extended this funding to work on a 2019-nCoV virus vaccine candidate, and access to the GSK adjuvant technology will now support this early stage research.

• Vir Biotechnology / GSK: On April 6, 2020 the two companies entered in an agreement to enter into a collaboration to research and develop solutions for coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The goal is to accelerate two promising antibody candidates.

• BioNTech / Fosun Pharma / Pfizer: BioNTech and Fosun Pharma are conducting clinical trials of BNT162 in China, leveraging BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA vaccine technology and Fosun Pharma’s clinical development and commercialization capabilities in China. Pfizer is partnering with BioNTech to kick-start a phase 2 test of their experimental mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 in Germany.

BAAM members GSK, Novartis and Sanofi are part of the NIH Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public-private Partnership in the US

Starting April 17, the National Institutes of Health and the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH) are bringing together more than a dozen leading biopharmaceutical companies, the Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency to develop an international strategy for a coordinated research response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The planned Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership will develop a collaborative framework for prioritizing vaccine and drug candidates, streamlining clinical trials, coordinating regulatory processes and/or leveraging assets among all partners to rapidly respond to the COVID-19 and future pandemics.

BAAM members GSK, Novartis and Sanofi are part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator

The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator is a philanthropic initiative designed to coordinate R&D efforts, remove barriers to drug development and scale up treatments to address the pandemic. The Accelerator is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Mastercard, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.K Department for International Development, Madonna and Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

A large post-exposure prophylaxis study is being conducted by the University of Washington International Clinical Research Center with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator. Novartis donated 20,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine to the University of Washington for a COVID-19 PEP clinical trial. Sandoz, the company’s generics and biosimilars division, is facilitating the donation.

GSK contributes to the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator by making available compounds from its libraries for screening for activity against COVID-19.

Sanofi is contributing with its expertise in advancing and scaling up compounds. As of April 10, Sanofi has committed to donating 100 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to 50 countries around the world and has begun to progressively deliver the medicine to authorities that have requested it.

On April 3, Novartis announced the donation of a substantial amount of hydroxychloroquine to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients within Switzerland. The aim of the donation was to enable patients to access a potential treatment while also advancing clinical research in the fight against COVID-19.

BAAM members Bayer, Novartis and Sanofi are working on developing COVID-19 treatments.

Sanofi/Regeneron / Feinstein Institutes: The partners are conducting studies to test rheumatoid arthritis medicine Kevzara, interleukin-6 receptor antagonist, in patients who have contracted the virus. The trial is funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Bayer is partnering with the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) in Canada on global clinical research evaluating COVID-19 treatments. Bayer has also donated millions of tablets of chloroquine to help in COVID-19 fight in the US, Italy and Germany.

Novartis will initiate a Phase III clinical trial to study canakinumab in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The CAN-COVID trial will examine the efficacy of utilizing canakinumab, an interleukin (IL)-1β blocker, to treat a type of severe immune overreaction called cytokine release syndrome (CRS) in people with COVID-19 pneumonia. On April 20, Novartis reached an agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with a Phase III clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 disease.

Moreover, Novartis is partnership with the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University on primary trials for Gilenya (fingolimod) sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulator to treat COVID-19 disease will end in July 2020. The drug is FDA-approved since 2010 to treat multiple sclerosis. Novartis / Incyte: At the beginning of April, Novartis and Incyte initiated a Phase III clinical trial in collaboration with Incyte to evaluate the use of Jakavi® (ruxolitinib) for treatment of a type of severe immune overreaction called cytokine storm that can lead to life-threatening respiratory complications in patients with COVID-19.

Sanofi and Luminostics are to negotiate a collaboration on the development of a breakthrough COVID-19 self-test solution based on Luminostics’ proprietary technology. Sanofi is to leverage its global distribution network to ensure global availability, subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

Bayer made more than 40 virus diagnostic devices from its research facilities available at various locations in Germany, which will increase the nationwide COVID-19 analysis capacity by several thousand tests per day. Bayer is also providing specially trained staff.

As part of the UK Government’s announcement of a new five pillar plan to boost testing for COVID-19, GSK, AstraZeneca and the University of Cambridge have formed a joint collaboration to take action to support this national effort. A new testing laboratory will be set up at the University of Cambridge’s Anne McLaren laboratory. This facility will be used for high throughput screening for COVID-19 testing and to explore the use of alternative chemical reagents for test kits to help overcome current supply shortages. Alongside this, GSK and AstraZeneca are working together to provide process optimization support to the UK national testing centers. In Belgium, GSK is using its premises to carry out up to 6.000 tests per day in its laboratories against the coronavirus.

Novartis is making rapid progress in distributing the allocated USD 20 million of the Novartis COVID-19 Response Fund, announced mid-March, to impacted countries around the world. The fund aims to support public health initiatives designed to help communities manage the challenges posed by the pandemic, such as programs to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, digital platforms for data collection or dissemination of important public health information, and community health programs. Countries benefiting from the Fund are Italy, Croatia, Lebanon, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Sub Saharan Africa region through donations to the WHO Africa’s African COVID-19 task force and through NGOs like the Red Cross. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Novartis US Foundation has established the US COVID-19 Community Response Fund to support local initiatives and communities in the US impacted by the outbreak. The fund will provide up to USD $5 million over a one-year period for immediate response and recovery efforts related to the pandemic.

BASF employees in Korea initiated a donation campaign that collected 20 million KRW to prevent the further spread of the pandemic. These funds were matched by the company, totalling 40 million KRW ($32,800) to Red Cross Korea. The donation was used for purchasing sanitary items such as masks and hand sanitizer for those in need across Kyungbuk and Daegu region, an area with the highest concentration of Covid-19 cases.

Bayer will donate nearly EUR 2 million to help fight the pandemic Covid-19 in France and Brazil. In Spain, Bayer is supporting the fight against the corona pandemic in Spain with a comprehensive aid package. The company donated €800,000 to the national health system in Spain for the purchase of urgently needed medical equipment and hospital beds. Further contributions of more than €100.000 include the donation of test equipment for the diagnosis of Covid-19 to one of the research centers of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), a prestigious public research institution, as well as support for the “Coronavirus Emergency in Spain" program of the Red Cross. More recently, Bayer donated more than €346,000 to mitigate the effects of the Coronavirus in Argentina.

GSK donated $10 million to WHO and the UN Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to support WHO and partners prevent, detect, and manage the pandemic, particularly where the needs are the greatest.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• In Belgium, GSK has donated 4,500 disposable overalls to hospitals mid-March and made 10 tons of additional equipment available to federal authorities in April: cloth coveralls, disposable aprons, gloves, and soap. This equipment was redistributed to Belgian hospitals and medical institutions as needed. Over 300,000 units of PPE were donated globally.

• Bayer donated ventilators and masks in Germany. In India, Bayer provided over 200,000 units of face masks (3 ply), 2000 units of N-95 masks, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and other medical supplies to various healthcare professionals in the country to help them in their fight against the virus.

• GSK has initiated a new volunteer process for employees to provide medical or specialist skills to frontline workers and national governments.

• BASF provided health protection visors to French social services and hospitals in Paris. For that, BASF relies on the know-how in 3D printing of its subsidiary Sculpteo.

Shifting Business Operations

• Bayer Mexico now produces and donates sanitizers and face shields.

Hand Sanitizers

• BASF has reallocated several metric tons of raw materials, especially isopropanol, for making sanitizers across several of its sites across Europe including France, Spain, Germany and Italy. In the US, BASF donated the state of Ohio 800 gallons of hand sanitizer.

Consumer health

• Bayer donated over 500,000 packs of Bepanthen, a multi-purpose antiseptic cream, to more than 100,000 healthcare professionals around the world. Bayer also donated 1 Million Over-the-Counter Products and Multivitamins to Americans In Need.

Food

• Nando's, McDonald's and KFC have started working with Joint Aid Management (JAM) starting May 2020 to feed hungry South Africans affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown.

• In the US, Nando’s is distributing free meals to healthcare workers and laid-off restaurant workers and their families. In Australia, Nando’s offers a 50% discount to frontline healthcare workers.

• Earlier in May, BASF donated $365,000 to Feeding America. The $365,000 includes a $150,000 corporate donation, $170,000 collected during a virtual employee food drive sponsored by the North America Agricultural Solutions business, and $45,000 donated by BASF’s facilities in Geismar, Louisiana.