From Dexamethasone to Paxlovid
These corona drugs are produced in Germany
A laboratory technician in a clean room at the Biontech production site in Marburg. Vaccines are still more important for fighting the pandemic, but the importance of medicines is increasing.
© Boris Roessler / Picture Alliance
In the fight against Corona, medicines will become more important in the future. Germany plays an important role in the manufacture of such medicines – and also in research into new drugs.
The focus is still on vaccination – but in the fight against the corona pandemic, drugs against Covid-19 will play a greater role in the future than they do today. Germany’s pharmaceutical industry had already landed a coup with the vaccines. The success of the Mainz-based manufacturer Biontech brought international renown and multi-billion dollar business to the domestic branch of industry – with the prospect of another strong increase in sales in 2022.
Corona drugs are now becoming the next chance for infected patients. In the case of therapeutics, groups from Switzerland, Great Britain and the USA are ahead. However, German locations also play a role in production and distribution.
Anti-corona drug Paxlovid is manufactured in Freiburg
The US group and Biontech partner Pfizer produces its drug Paxlovid against severe Covid courses mainly in Freiburg. Once the active ingredient has been received and approved, the process of mixing, granulating, compressing and coating the tablets will begin, a spokeswoman said. “A team of quality experts ensures that the highest standards are maintained.” In addition, packaging will begin in Freiburg, where 1,700 people work for Pfizer.
The pharmaceutical manufacturer expects to complete at least 120 million units worldwide this year – around 30 million of them in the first half of the year. “We are in the process of creating additional capacity and ramping up production,” Pfizer announced.
The federal government has already ordered a million packs of Paxlovid. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) expects the first deliveries in January. The drug is particularly suitable for the treatment of unvaccinated high-risk patients, it says. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already issued an emergency approval for the drug, and testing is still ongoing in the EU.
Another drug is Roactemra from the Swiss company Roche. It is administered against an overshooting of the body’s own immune defenses in the case of severely advanced corona diseases. The agent, which is approved in the EU, is packaged and filled in Mannheim, among other places. There and at the Bavarian site in Penzberg, more than 1000 employees work in sterile filling for the global market.
Antibodies can also be used against corona diseases in the early stages – universities, for example the Hannover Medical School, are also researching this. For example, Roche offers the preparation Ronapreve with the antibodies casirvimab and imedvimab. These are produced in the USA, while quality assurance and batch release for Europe are based in Grenzach in southern Baden.
Medicines are considered the pillar of the fight against corona. However, they are more expensive than vaccinations and often more complicated to use. “The big game changers are certainly the vaccines, not the therapeutics,” says Munich-based infectiologist Christoph Spinner. However, therapeutics are an important supplement for “people who are not vaccinated because of a chronic disease, for example, and are therefore unable to build up comparable immune protection”.
The drug dexamethasone, which the pharmaceutical company Merck markets under the name Fortecortin, is also used in the treatment of Covid patients. The patent-free agent – which has long been approved in several areas of application – helps with the administration of oxygen or artificial respiration of corona patients. In Darmstadt, Merck manufactures all liquid, injectable forms from the active ingredient. The Dax company has approvals for Covid 19 indications for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, among others, says a spokesman. “Further activities for non-EU countries are ongoing.”
Germany as a pharmaceutical location has gained in importance in the corona pandemic
German companies are also researching corona drugs. According to the Association of Research-Based Drug Manufacturers (VFA), 37 preparations are in development. But none has been approved yet. “The production of corona vaccines has grown in Germany in a short time and has increased the importance of the pharmaceutical location,” says Rolf Hömke from the VFA. Driven by the demand for vaccines, it is estimated that sales in the industry will increase by eight percent this year. Germany is strong in complex production processes. “In the case of corona therapeutics, there is also a chance that production will be expanded.”
In the USA there is an emergency authorization for the active substance molnupiravir from the company Merck & Co., which appears in this country as MSD and also produces an Ebola vaccine in Burgwedel near Hanover. An application has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The production is in America, in the Netherlands the substance is then packaged for the German market. “At the end of November, the EMA issued a scientifically based recommendation for the use of molnupiravir in the treatment of Covid 19 patients,” says Klaus Schlueter, medical director at MSD. “Even if the official approval process is still ongoing, the product may be used after it has been checked by the respective authorities in the EU countries.”
An initial contingent of 80,000 units was agreed with the Federal Ministry of Health for December and January. “The goods are sold through eleven contact points in the pharmaceutical wholesale trade and can be ordered by pharmacies for patients if there is an indication by a doctor’s prescription,” says Schlueter. Discussions were underway to make further quantities available for Germany as well.
Watch the video: How fast and where exactly is the corona virus spreading in Germany and the world? How are the Covid-19 infection numbers developing in the federal states? The Corona briefing from n-tv gives an up-to-date overview.