Geneva, April 24, 2020: The world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies proclaimed their commitment to a landmark global partnership launched today and designed to accelerate the development and production of safe, effective and affordable therapeutics and vaccines available for all in a way that ensures nobody is left behind in the fight against COVID-19. The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), the body representing the innovative biopharmaceutical industry in Geneva, will join the global collaboration as a Founding Partner to represent industry.
The industry has been working flat-out to marshal its unique expertise to find a durable solution to the spread of COVID-19 and stands ready to scale up its work on an even more unprecedented scale in line with its previously expressed commitments. By joining the global collaboration, the innovative biopharmaceutical industry can work on an equal footing with all stakeholders to help speed up the development of safe and effective therapeutics and vaccines, share tools and insights to test potential therapies and vaccines, increase manufacturing capabilities and share available capacities and share real-time clinical trial data with governments and other companies around the world.
This collaboration is aligned with the innovative biopharmaceutical companies’ strong sense of responsibility to act together as well as in partnership with all stakeholders but also their determination to play the greatest possible role in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The biopharmaceutical industry holds the keysto finding lasting and equitable solutions through new therapeutics and vaccines. Industry welcomes today’s acknowledgment of the critical role of the private sector in this fight.
The industry statement delivered by Thomas Cueni, Director General, IFPMA at the collaboration’s launch event and in the presence of Senior United Nations, government and health leaders from around the world states: “The biopharmaceutical industry is acutely aware of the enormous responsibility we have to patients and society to engage in unprecedented levels of collaboration to find a solution to COVID-19. We stand ready to bring to this partnership our unique knowledge and expertise in the discovery and development of medicines and vaccines, as well as our experience building manufacturing capacity and distribution networks.”
Cueni went on to say: “Today, scientists in the public and private sector hold the keys to our common goal: The swift end of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud to be part of this landmark global partnership and are fully committed to its goal to accelerate development, production and equitable global access to safe, quality, effective, and affordable COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines. In the fight against COVID-19, we must ensure that no one is left behind”.
He concluded the statement by saying: “We will only succeed in this journey together”.
Full statement: IFPMA Statement on the launch of a new global collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to new COVID-19 tools
