The coronavirus disease was discovered in Wuhan, China in November 2019. The virus spread like a fire in China and infected millions of people in a short period. The virus engulfed most parts of the world by March 2019 and has infected 23 million people and killed 799 thousand people as of today. WHO declared nCovid-19 a “Global Pandemic” on 11th March 2020. The world has taken quantum jumps since the nCovid-19 outbreak. It has disrupted modern people on a scale that most people never imagined, with economies derailed, school’s shutdown, people starving, and supply chain jolted.
Coronavirus is a highly contagious and easily treatable disease, which spreads primarily through salivary droplets and nose discharge during sneezing or coughing. There are various strains of the virus, each infecting people differently. Most of the people infected with the virus experience high fever, respiratory illness, loss of taste and smell, and recover in 14-15 days without requiring special treatment. People with co-morbidities are likely to develop serious illness. There are no special medicines or vaccines for nCovid-19, and self-awareness, good hygiene practices, face masks, and social distancing are the only way to prevent and slow-down its transmission.
Covid-19 has drastically changed the lives of people. It is a challenge at both international and national levels, with revised travel and export-import guidelines, pandemic focused policy drafting and infrastructure for treatment of the nCovid-19 patients. It has disposed of a huge responsibility for each human being to be responsible for the health and wellness of ourselves as well as of those surrounding us. It has altered many aspects of our life ranging from healthcare, spending habits, social norms, and created an economic lesion that would take years to cure. Due to this pandemic, people are unable to visit one another, go to school, office, malls, and host and attend social gatherings. We are forbidden to be close to our family and friends, hold their hands, and embrace them. We are caged in our own houses and are confronted with the reality that we are not the supreme masters of the world. This pandemic has compelled us to introspect our purpose of life and made us realize that materialistic things do not always lead to the roads of happiness. It has taught us the value of interdependence. We all live on a symbiotic relationship on this planet. Our life is equally dependent on both a truck driver transporting the raw materials/finished goods and on a person cleaning the drains. The focus should now be on empowering local communities and shopkeepers. It has made us realize that human beings are living well beyond natural boundaries and nature has its own ways to keep checks and balances. With less traffic on road, we have clear blue skies, fresh air and clean water, and wild animals in urban areas. Planet has the capability to restore itself, it is humanity who is living under the mercy of this planet and its resources. The time has come to reboot our thought process and adopt the ancient practices like Ayurveda, yoga, and respect for nature.
A plethora of strategies based on the population, technical advancement, and healthcare infrastructure have been employed globally. A major drawback of these strategies across the countries (e.g., India, China, the U.S., Italy) has been a delay in the implementation of measures. A model simulation by Lai Shengjie and Andrew Tatem speculated that if China had applied control measures a week earlier, 67% of all the cases could have been prevented and the infection rate would have reduced to 5% [1]. If all the countries have had put travel restrictions and strict quarantine procedures well-in-time the spread of the deadly virus could have reduced. In contrast, a few countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea have successfully flattened the spread curve due to their technological advancement, rapid and continuous testing, early detection, and isolation of infected persons. A diverse set of strategies have been employed to manage the nCovid-19 response and all the countries have learned different lessons from the management of this pandemic. We all have realized the importance of resolute leadership, innovative technologies, transparency, effective communication, and accountability in managing a pandemic. One of the key learning from the nCovid-19 pandemic has been that though we all have well-trained armies, highly advanced research laboratories and manufacturing facilities, and artificial intelligence but we all are unprepared to fight from a biowarfare agent. We need lots of knowledge, research, and cooperation on battling pandemics like Ebola, SARS, and nCovid-19. We need to reassess the resilience of our healthcare system and draft a pandemic-specific action plan that can be implemented in a short span of time. We should have enough critical care units, personal protective equipment, drug and vaccine manufacturing units, isolation beds, paramedical staff, and doctors that can be efficiently utilized in the pandemic. We need unified responses and greater international co-operation to win the war against natural calamities. An investment in a centralized research lab is required. The first case of the nCovid-19 was diagnosed in November 2019, had there been a centralized research lab wherein the eminent scientist from all over the world could come together and brainstorm on possible drug or vaccine we would be on the verge of finding a high potency breakthrough. The drug and vaccine development program need to be strengthened.
The existing global health insurance policies are inadequate and require substantial changes and improvements. Despite the existence of several health security funds like the World bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEFF) and WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE), we could not provide timely financial aid to countries in desperate need. The nCovid-19 has profoundly hit the countries economically. According to the International Monetary Fund, the global economy is expected to decrease by 3% in 2020 owing to the economic damage from the nCovid-19 pandemic. It has adversely hit employment and most people are in dire need of money and food. Mechanisms ought to be created to support the population below the poverty line and lower-middle-class during an economic crisis. A centralized database comprising the migrant details and strict labor laws (that emphasize on the well being of lower staff) need to be there. Another learning has been the importance of social distancing and good hygiene practices. Regardless of virus presence, we should always wash our hands and goods bought from the market. The roads and rivers should not be covered with garbage and filth. A regular sanitation drive should be held every month. We should also invest a lot in our technical capabilities. Though we all claim that we are technologically advanced but there is ample room to employ novel technologies, like Ed-Tech platforms, essential goods delivery and surveillance through drones, robots to screen patients and deliver medicines, and foods to them. The digital economy is the need of the hour.
Though Covid-19 has infected and killed millions of people, it has reminded us to redesign our policies and shown us the strategic importance of technologically advanced, financially stable, and publicly accountable health systems and research laboratories.
The pharmaceutical sector has become a dominant sector during this pandemic. All the agencies and people have an eye on the popular pharma companies and are foreseeing a breakthrough in the development of a vaccine or drug for the treatment of the nCovid-19. The pharma companies are also assisting the government in research and development actions on potential treatment strategies, and in balancing medicines supply chain in the time of crisis to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic has very badly hit the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. It has put a huge pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture both Covid and non-Covid drugs and overburdened the health workers. The disruptions in supply chains have severely affected the production and transportation of drugs. In most of the Countries, prices of raw materials and shipping have increased (due to limited supply), production schedules have been interrupted, drug approvals have been delayed and manufacturing units have been shut down. The pharma industry has witnessed several transformations in this pandemic, a few include:
Shortage of raw material and increase in price
A majority of global pharmaceutical players were heavily dependent on China for procurement of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and key starting materials (KSP), therefore delivery of essential medicines at affordable prices is highly impacted owing to the shortage of KSP and APIs.
Shortage of medicines due to change in demand
The panic buying of oral home-medications and increased demand for masks, hydroxychloroquine, and ventilators has abruptly changed the demand scenario and due to inconsistencies in supply-change a huge shortage is witnessed. In an article by Sohini Das (published in The Business Standard) it is reported that “induced demand in the global pharmaceutical market, mainly due to “the panic buying” of pharmaceuticals for chronic disorders, was estimated to be 9%, by March 2020”.
Increased telecommunication and telehealth practices
The norm of social distancing has compelled many doctors to shut their clinics/hospitals and shift to remote interactions and telecommunication. According to a report published in The Market Research Future, “40% of doctors are providing treatment for coronavirus patients, and 60% of doctors are forced to abandon the treatment given in their clinics”.
Research and development changes, and delayed approval of the non-covid drugs
The nCovid-19 has shifted the focus from cancer, Aids, and other diseases. There is a cut-throat competition between the pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs and vaccines for nCovid-19 and therefore the R&D for other drugs has been sedated. According to a report by Iqvia, “at least 113 medicines and 53 vaccines are in research and development pipelines or active clinical trials globally, as therapeutics for patients diagnosed with COVID-19”. Due to the restricted movement of people amidst lockdown the clinical-trials (of non-covid drugs/vaccines) are not being conducted, the timeline for drug/patent filings is increasing and approval of the drug is delayed.
Increased local manufacturing/manufacturing in low-cost countries
The raw material and other shortages due to export bans in China is encouraging more and more countries to promote local manufacturing and streamline the supply chain. Also, most of the government leaders and businesses are looking at alternative low-cost nations, such as India, Vietnam, and Indonesia to source KSPs, APIs, and packaging material.
Less production due to manpower crunch
Operational plants are producing less due to less human capital amidst lockdown and social distancing norms. Some factories were propelled to shut down their functions as few workers tested nCovid-19 positive.
Revision in FDA policies
The demand for drugs amidst pandemic may compel FDA to allow relaxations in the review process of generic medicines, regulation of medical devices, and the number of quality control inspections on manufacturing plants.
Increased use of data analytics and predictive maintenance
The pandemic has made the pharma giants realized the importance of data repositories and their analysis. Collation and analysis of large amounts of clinical and molecular data can fasten the process of clinical trials and drug development. The application of predictive maintenance can help them in the smooth functioning and maintenance of manufacturing and packaging devices.
The COVID–19 pandemic is transforming the organization and power structure in the world and fueling leaders across the globe to revisit their business and growth strategies. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are likely to diversify sourcing of raw material and invest in scattered production across different markets rather than in particularly concentrated geography. Despite the pandemic as compared to other industries the pharma sector has seen a spike and is expected to see a positive impact, on an overall basis, on its growth in 2020.
2020-8-23-1598222421