In a few months, the world learned how a vaccine is developed, what the protocols are for it to be approved by the health authorities or how the trials are done. It is the same time, against the clock, with which the pharmaceutical companies have tried to provide a solution with which to stand up to the coronavirus.
At Pfizer, the machinery started working early. “In February, together with BioNTech (the biotechnology company that makes the vaccine), we were developing clinical products and drugs. In March we decided to take advantage of the technological research that we already had for other immunization processes (such as flu) to find a solution to covid-19 ”, explains Constanza Losada, general director of Pfizer Mexico. At the same time, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease a pandemic.
Speed has been the norm in the process. In July of last year, the firm was already in phase 3 of development, explained in a meeting with the media, last April, Alejandro Cané, leader of Scientific and Medical Affairs for North America of the pharmaceutical company. At that time, the company began talks with several governments and nine months later it had already completed the regulatory processes for the approval of the vaccine, which was available in December of last year in the United States and in other countries during the first two months of 2021.
“The pandemic forced us to think outside the box, not just ourselves as vaccine manufacturers and developers, but also the regulatory authorities with whom we have worked openly and continuously around the world, sharing information in real time. In such a way that it allowed us, on the one hand, to shorten this regulatory evaluation period and also to make an effort to investigate and invest at risk, that is, to start producing the vaccine many times even before the clinical study was finished “, said the executive.
Arrival in Mexico
Losada assumed the leadership of Pfizer Mexico in April 2020. Being the first woman to take the reins of the pharmaceutical company in the country meant a lot of responsibility, not only because, automatically, she became an example to follow for other women who aspire to positions senior management in the industry, but because the global spotlight focused on it as it is the communication bridge between the company and the Mexican government.
The executive says that the country is one of the most important for Pfizer’s operations in the world, making it an ideal and priority market to start the vaccination process. “Once we had approved the vaccine and with doses ready, we began conversations with Mexico. It was one of the first governments we spoke to globally. We wanted to bring the vaccine to the country as soon as possible ”, he says.
On December 23, 2020, the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines arrived in Mexico from Belgium. It was the first vaccine that was received in the country. A day later, María Irene Ramírez, the head of nurses at the Rubén Leñero hospital in Mexico City, received the first dose at the national level and, at the same time, became the first person in Latin America to be immunized with the vaccine. of the biopharmaceutical.
The second vaccine that has been applied in Mexico is that of AstraZeneca-Oxford, which was designed by the English university and the Anglo-Swedish laboratory. This vaccine raised a lot of hope as it is easier to store, because, unlike the Pfizer-BioNtech, which must be kept at a temperature of -70 degrees Celsius, the AstraZeneca can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees for at least six months. In addition, the firm reached an agreement with the Slim Foundation for the antigen to be produced in Argentina and packaged in Mexico.
That is why the news that several European countries temporarily interrupted the administration of the vaccine due to the appearance of clots and bleeding in some patients, was a blow. In Mexico, the first cases were registered in April. Despite this, the local authorities assured that these events were very rare, so it would continue to be used. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador even received the AstraZeneca vaccine to provide confidence to the population.
Until May 9, 2021, Mexico has received more than 27 million doses, of which 10.6 million are Pfizer-BioNtech and more than 4.6 million, AstraZeneca-Oxford. 21.3 million vaccines have been applied in the country, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
A new image?
The visibility that the pharmaceutical companies gained when they announced their participation in the development of the vaccine had positive consequences. Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, AstraZeneca’s shares have risen 11% and Pfizer’s 16%.
Both companies (as well as the pharmaceutical sector in general) were also perceived differently in the ranking of ‘The 100 companies with the best reputation in Mexico 2020’, prepared by the Corporate Reputation Business Monitor (Merco). “The entire industry had a growth in their positions, the companies were better valued than the previous year in areas such as ethics, social responsibility and innovation”, explains Itzel Torres, general director of Merco Mexico.
In 2020, Pfizer led the top 10 in the pharmaceutical sector in the ranking for the eighth year in a row. In the general list, it rose three positions, from 18th to 15th place. AstraZeneca was located in sixth position in the ranking by industry.
Losada says that having security protocols established before the pandemic and starting their technological and digital transformation in 2018 has allowed them to face the contingency more easily. “We already had a clear strategy at a global level and in Mexico, the only thing that happened now was the acceleration of our plans,” says the director of Pfizer.
Víctor Paredes, general director of the communication agency Neuma, which has Pfizer and Sanofi among its clients, assures that the pharmaceutical companies managed to become visible to a society that did not necessarily understand their work. “People realized that you are working to save people’s lives. This changed the perception ”, comments the manager.
Companies have had to advance and evolve as the pandemic has demanded. They have already created a vaccine, they have already immunized a percentage of the population and are now dealing with the appearance of new variants of covid-19. This is forcing them to keep their investigations up to date. “The messenger RNA molecule, which is part of our vaccine, is very small and very easy to modify and in a few days we can have a different formulated vaccine to be able to attend to a possible variant,” said Cané.
Paredes asserts that 2021 is going to be a year of a lot of interaction, learning and global collaboration between companies. “You realize that one alone is not going to be able to provide a solution,” confirms Sylvia Varela, president of AstraZeneca Mexico.
