When the pandemic began, the industry has overcome many obstacles while concentrating on rapidly deploying clinical trials, introducing new and repurposed treatments, and developing and rolling out new vaccines on groundbreaking technological platforms.

The scale of the crisis required a novel approach. Pharmaceutical companies shared real-time clinical data with government and authorities, and developed new manufacturing processes, updated facilities, recruited skilled workforce, and started to manufacture doses before testing and approval.

Over 13 billion COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worlwide, facilitated by over 381 partnerships, voluntary licenses, and technology transfers.

Over 36 treatments have been approved for emergency use or standard of care including antivirals, anti-inflammatories, and monoclonal antibodies. Companies developing COVID-19 treatments entered into over 150 collaborations to expand manufacturing capacity.

IFPMA was a founding partner of the ACT-Accelerator and  fully committed to the goal of the WHO’s COVAX Pillar to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to safe, effective, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines. The COVAX facility  delivered 2 billion COVID-19 vaccines to 146 countries.

Treatments are another important tool to fight COVID-19. Our industry has tested existing treatments and developed new ones, including antivirals, anti-inflammatories and monoclonal antibodies. It has prioritized equitable access by implementing multiple strategies, including over 150 voluntary licenses and tiered pricing.

Alongside its work in tackling COVID-19, the industry began reflecting on lessons learned that can inform how we create a healthier, safer, more equitable world. The innovative pharmaceutical industry proposes to turn these lessons into strategic insights that will guide future efforts to build effective pandemic preparedness and response.

This culminated in the groundbreaking Berlin Declaration in which industry proposed a framework to improve the real-time delivery of vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for priority populations in lower-income countries for future global pandemics.

IFPMA, together with the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers’ Network (DCVMN), representing vaccines innovators and manufacturers, jointly endorsed the Berlin Declaration framework, pledging to reserve an allocation of real-time production of vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for priority populations in lower income countries and take measures to make them available and affordable.

The pharmaceutical industry proposed additional commitments for equitable access to essential medical countermeasures for future pandemics, outlining a package of practical tools to expand access when the next pandemic strikes. These commitments represent concrete pathways to make equitable access possible.