The world needs detection and diagnostics, vaccines and treatments to control a pandemic. In the inevitable event of the next pandemic, therapeutics will help to reduce the progression of infection to disease, reduce disease severity and reduce transmission of infection and fill the gap if a vaccine is unavailable.
Yet, the world is not investing in them at the necessary scale or speed. During the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, USD$91 billion was publicly invested globally in vaccines compared to just USD$4.6 billion in therapeutics. As a result, therapeutic drugs only became available in July 2023 – three years after vaccine approval.
Whether the next pandemic comes from a known or unknown pathogen, we must see significant investment in methodical therapeutic research and development, trials and manufacturing equal to vaccines and diagnostics.
How have therapeutics worked before?
Since the early 2000s, researchers have advanced the science behind treatments to develop the highly effective antiviral drugs available for both hepatitis B and C today. These therapeutics target the virus directly, reducing side effects and improving effectiveness compared with previous interferon treatments. In the case of hepatitis C, this innovation has led to highly effective cures for 95% of people treated.
-
Treating viral hepatitis: Therapeutic lessons for future pandemics
300 million people live with viral hepatitis globally. Through medical research innovation, therapeutics have been developed to treat the various strains of the disease and prevent progression to liver cancer.