Why don't they share their jab recipe?

[Bubblty]

They might have done. But you know how paracetamol is just a generic thing, why haven't they done the same for the vaccines? Or have they? I'm thinking they need to churn loads more out if the UK are going to use 4 doses per person. Like there's loads of countries that haven't even managed 1 dose yet.

I think there is also an issue with the factories used to produce not only the vaccine, but also the syringe/needle. There just isnt the capacity.

The AZ vaccine was not for profit originally, but think they are starting profit sales.

I have read about this somewhere before and part of the issue is with the quality control. Pfizer for example wouldn't just anyone to be making their vaccine because what if there was a safety issue due to a manufacturing mistake?

Making a vaccine is more like growing a plant from a seed than baking a cake from flour and eggs i.e. it's not as easy as just throwing the right ingredients in the pot and mixing, it needs careful monitoring and testing at the different stages of production, and the specialist knowledge and kit to be able to do that.

The vaccine equality problem is not really a supply issue at this point anyway but much more to do with distribution and actually high vaccine hesitancy in some countries, too.

Very interesting thank you. Seems its not just because of the money.

Also @Bubblty making paracetamol as an oral tablet is waaaay easier than making a Parenteral drug (injection) the standards are much much higher.

I love this place I've learnt so much.

@qualitygirl

Also *@Bubblty* making paracetamol as an oral tablet is waaaay easier than making a Parenteral drug (injection) the standards are much much higher.

Why is that? Because your gut can filter stuff out? It's still a pretty high standard though right? So if I buy a cheap one it's the same as a pricey one?

Briefly put...all manufacturing areas are graded A being the highest grade (this is an area where filling happens...so highly filtered, monitored etc and no personnel are actually in the area, it is all automated and they do any interventions through gloves.Grade B is the Background to grade A this is highly monitored, personnel are garbed (twice over) air locks in and out etc etc
Grade C and D (mostly D) is where oral medicines are made. Airlocks in and out, personnel are garbed once, highly monitored etc but not as "clean" (for want of a better word!) as Grade A.

And yes you have essentially hit the nail on the head...your gut would kill a lot but something that is put straight into your bloodstream needs to be completely sterile.

And yes a cheap one is just as good as an expensive one... 👍

@qualitygirl thank you for taking the time to explain that to me. Most appreciated

No problem at all @Bubblty anytime

@qualitygirl

In terms of making something generic...all drugs once created have a patent that holds for 20years. After that any other companies are free to make their own versions

Patents don’t arise automatically - you have to apply for them, and they have to get granted by each individual patent office. So not all drugs are the subject of a patent, and certainly not in every country - that would be very expensive.

And whilst the standard patent term is 20 years (from filing, which usually equates to 21 years from the priority date), the patent term of pharmaceuticals can sometimes be extended (by way of a supplementary protection certificate, or SPC) to compensate for the time it took to get marketing authorisation. Plus in order to maintain a patent for the full term, the proprietor has to pay renewal fees (which usually get progressively more expensive as the patent gets older). So not all granted patents last as long as 20 years.

They do. But it isn’t as simple as a “recipe”, often it takes a long time to create the ingredients- it’s not unusual to share the ingredients and come up with your own recipes, and end up with different formulations doing the same thing.

The oxford vaccine was not for profit, which is why it is much cheaper, and also why for profit medicine like the US don’t like it and prefer the others.

The way medicine works in this country there’s a lot of sharing of ideas and collaboration, as the NHS and general british culture lends a “greater good” mentality. Which is why we were pretty much at the front of the race with several alternatives. We also have a lot of research funded by charity and the NHS rather than pharma, so again not for profit and it doesn’t matter so much who comes up with it.

US and other countries where medicine is a business tend to be much more guarded with their ideas. If they share and someone else beats them to the end product they lose billions.

@OublietteBravo yep 👍
I was speaking in very broad terms. It really isn't a one size fits all, easily explained process is it? Pretty much like everything when it comes to pharma 🤣

@Nomoreusernames1244 ah I hadn't thought of that aspect of it.

Like you say @qualitygirl it does sound like a complicated world. So thanks everyone who has broken it down a bit into info my non pharmabrain can handle!

@Draggondragon was that meant for a different thread??

No it was especially for the OP