There was no solution to break it, but... The reason why the Korean delegation went on business trip to Moderna protest
It is true that when it was announced that the Korean delegation would make a protest visit to the Moderna headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts due to the disruption in the supply of the Moderna vaccine, it is true that I thought about whether I should go on a business trip.
This is because it was so clear from the start that it was impossible to come up with a solution to the shortage of vaccines.
Our government was able to communicate enough through video, and in fact, coming in person did not change the conclusion.
In addition, I was informed that Corinne Le Gough, the chief business officer, who was the representative of our government delegation from Moderna, was not in the United States, and was preparing to attend the interview via video.
Still, I don't think this visit itself can be downplayed as a waste of tax, as some say. What I learned from living in the US, which was not long, is that in the US, people who actively assert their rights are given even a little more attention. If it's not outrageous against the law, an active claim for rights and expression often helps solve the problem. In the end, one of the biggest reasons I decided to go on a business trip to Moderna was to let Moderna know that the Korean media were covering this visit with great interest. Moderna's vaccine shortages are causing a series of changes in vaccination schedules and extremely stressful people, but it's difficult for Moderna to know the details. Mainstream American media are not paying attention to the modern or vaccine shortages that are taking place in Korea. After being approved for a business trip at the company, in May, I delivered a message to moderna people I met while interviewing CEO Stefan Bangsel Moderna, saying, 'We are also going to cover this time.' I could read a bit of a puzzled look when I was traveling on a business trip from Washington to Boston.
The day before the interview, I arrived at Boston Airport and came to the Moderna building to conduct a field visit and report, and the rules for filming around were very strict. The building Moderna moved into was managed by a real estate company called Alexandria. Even though we were filming some of the company's building, the company's security guards came and stopped us, saying it was not allowed to shoot on private property. Security agents advised Moderna to get approval before filming and live broadcasting. I had no choice but to ask Moderna for permission to broadcast in front of the building late at night. There was no other way because we had to go live early the next morning (this is the main news time of the evening in Korea). It was so urgent that I asked for help here and there, but Moderna also sent an official letter to the real estate company so that they could docilely investigate whether the matter was important, so we were able to broadcast live on SBS 8 News. If they were reluctant or thought that they should block this coverage, live broadcasting would have been impossible if they just pretended not to know. Thanks to the uproar of the late night, I guess that even Moderna would know for sure that this is a big issue that the Korean media also pay attention to.
On the day of the interview, correspondents from other broadcasters arrived at the scene, and naturally they began to 'stretch' (this is a media slang term for waiting endlessly at the scene).
We talked a lot while waiting for the delegation with the staff of Alexandria Real Estate, who came to manage the site, and they said, "This is the first time a foreign government delegation is visiting Moderna."
I asked for a long time what the hell was going on in Korea, so high-ranking officials came one after another, and he explained it to me.
One employee quietly listened to the explanation and laughed as he summed it up in one word, "I'm here to show that Korea is so angry."
It can be said that there was a small commotion in which the Korean delegation visited the research complex, and the media companies were camped out and everyone in the neighborhood looked into it.
"Moderna was not interested in anything other than her own field"... Sesa in someone else's building is modern
The land owner of the buildings around where Moderna was located was MIT University.
The Alexandria Real Estate Company paid land to MIT to build seven buildings and received numerous biotech companies such as Moderna as tenants.
It's not uncommon for Moderna, who got rich due to Corona, to buy their own building, but they were just running the company as tenants.
Alexandria officials said, "Moderna is only interested in her field of expertise, not real estate at all."
Like other companies after the corona virus, Moderna had a significant number of employees working from home.
Most of the people entering and leaving the company were also wearing masks.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Moderna is located, is home to prestigious universities such as MIT and Harvard.
I could feel the energy just by looking at the streets full of young students.
Seeing these young and energetic students made me feel good at the same time.
There were many other bio companies, such as the Pfizer research facility, in the vicinity, and I thought again that there was no need to worry about the pool of talented people who would procure high-quality manpower.
Stephen Bansel, founder of Moderna, is also a Harvard MBA graduate.
"Modena has expressed an apology"... As expected, press conference with no specific supply plan
Our negotiating team came over 30 minutes earlier than the expected start time of the interview to go to get a corona test before the interview, at 2:00 PM, and the actual interview itself became very long. If it had been a formal interview, it could have been said that 30 minutes was actually long, but it was only after more than three hours that the delegation came out of the building. Kang Kang-tae, 2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, who led our delegation, responded as soon as he appeared, saying, "The government expressed regret for the supply delay, and Moderna expressed an apology." "The Korean government has requested that more vaccines be supplied quickly, and Moderna has decided to do its best," he said. The reporters also asked questions about things, but they couldn't get a proper answer. We did not immediately respond to questions about the reason for the delay in supply, the specific results of the interview, and future supply plans. Deputy Minister Kang finished at the level of saying, "After consulting with Moderna, I will return to Korea to organize and announce it." However, Vice Minister Kang explained the atmosphere of the interview with the expression that "there was a serious and constructive discussion."
I tried to get a brief look at Moderna's stance on this interview, but I didn't get a response.
At first, Moderna responded to the level of "I'll think about it", then said, "I don't know if I'll get a reaction," but in the end, I couldn't hear more about the interview.
Moderna's official response to the incident was a brief statement sent to SBS on July 27, when the supply shortage was first announced.
At the time, Moderna described the incident as "production delays due to laboratory problems at a partner company outside the United States."
Moderna explained that the delay was due to a lack of spare inventory to respond to when these issues arise.
It will take two to four weeks to recover, he said, explaining that he is working with partners to address supply delays in other countries that have experienced this.
In any case, it was clear that there was a problem with modernity or the supply chain, causing the vaccine not to be delivered on time.
Being careful about reacting to our delegation's visit this time is probably because he thought that expressing his position could adversely affect Moderna in the future.
If the delegation's protest visits are rumored to be working, Moderna may face a series of protest visits by delegations from other countries.
It's hard to even imagine if it's not a pandemic.
Weak supply chains acknowledged by Moderna CEO Bansel… Moderna raises ransom for delta mutation
Moderna became a star bio company with a corona vaccine, but Moderna was a start-up company to the extent that there was no vaccine approved for emergency use before. Although there are factories in Norwood near Boston and production facilities of partner companies in New Hampshire, vaccines made at facilities in the United States have been difficult to meet the supply needs of the United States. The development of the Corona vaccine also started with US government money, and many patents are owned by the US government, so Moderna has not been able to expand its own production facilities. (An MOU to build its own production facilities in Canada was announced a few days ago. In May, CEO Stefan Bansel also spoke directly about the problem of their vulnerable production facilities during an interview. "We have the scientific knowledge and the technology, but we don't have the ability to create hundreds of millions of vaccines," Bansel admits. Even the undiluted vaccine solution has to be made in partnership with Swiss Lonza. Because of this situation, working with Samsung Biologics, which has world-class vaccine production capacity, was also something Moderna desperately wanted to expand production capacity. The problem is that, due to the weakness of Moderna's production chain, the problem of vaccine supply insecurity can reoccur at any time.
Moreover, it is bad news for us that the price of modders and ransoms are rising due to the delta mutation explosion in the US. In the United States, booster shots were approved just in time. The initial plan is to approve additional vaccinations for 1 million people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients and organ transplant patients, but it seems only a matter of time before this will be extended to all age groups. In fact, even now in the United States, you can go to a pharmacy and get another vaccine at any time if you want, so if the public health authorities open the door to the booster shot and recommend it to the general public who has been vaccinated for a certain period of time, the amount of vaccine will be sent to the United States for a while. The possibility of being sucked cannot be ruled out.
By far the most vaccinated person in the United States is by far the Pfizer vaccine. According to the CDC, Pfizer received 220 million doses and Moderna received 170 million doses. However, some early studies have recently revealed that the Pfizer vaccine is less effective than Moderna. In particular, a Mayo Clinic study in Minnesota patients in July when the delta mutation was severe showed that Pfizer vaccine was 42% effective in preventing infection and Moderna was 76%. The result was that Pfizer was surprisingly vulnerable to delta mutations, but the US government has no choice but to be concerned because there are so many people who have been hit by Pfizer. (If you look at these numbers and think that there is no need for vaccination, please take a look at the Washington Insights I wrote earlier, which contains advice from US doctors in Missouri.) Axios said that the White House "wake up call" Wake-up call)" Of course, it is important to keep in mind that these research results are still in their early stages and have limitations in that they have not been verified by peers, but if similar results continue to emerge, there is a possibility that Moderna's ransom price will rise higher than it is now in Booster Shot.
In the United States, the government is effectively procuring moderna vaccine raw materials under the Defense Production Act.
It is not common for pharmaceutical companies to procure all the necessary raw materials during the pandemic, but the US government is wearing armbands and providing raw materials, so the government is very dependent on the production of vaccines.
Because of this, even if, in effect, the US government does not impose export controls on vaccines, it is very likely that US needs will take precedence.
Even near Independence Day, the United States seemed to have some leeway when declaring the corona liberation, but if it is decided that it needs to secure more booster shots because its nose is small now, it is certain that it will do anything for the national interest.
It is undeniable that the overall mood around the procurement of vaccines is unfavorable due to the delta mutation explosion.
Plan B and Plan C should also be checked... You have to think about why you put the wrong first step in your vaccine policy.
Even if Moderna said "I'll try" with the supply, I can't believe that's all there is to it. Even if Moderna has such a mindset, its affiliates may have another accident, and the US government may not be actively responding. In that regard, if the contents of our delegation's plan to organize the contents of how long and how long the vaccine can be delivered, the government may be in trouble again. In order to quell angry public opinion right now, there may come a situation where you will have to take a backseat if you talk only with Moderna's vaccine supply schedule. Rather, I think it would be more helpful in the long run to explain why Moderna can't deliver vaccines in a timely manner and to ask the public for their understanding that they are considering Plan B and Plan C together. In fact, according to the big picture of vaccine supply, confusion over vaccine introduction is likely to end in the second half of the year. In order to avoid the urgent situation right now, it seems that it should be avoided as much as possible to lose the public's trust in the vaccine while creating confusion.
Regarding Moderna, Samsung Biologics' consignment production is an area that I personally watch with interest. Consuming finished products made by Samba in Korea is the most efficient way to save logistics costs, even from a modern day standpoint. How quickly this product can be released is not only Samba's competence, but it is also directly related to the government's diplomatic capacity to support the process of introducing raw materials. I asked Bangsel about this in an interview last May, and he said, "We will adjust according to the country's demand," although it is assumed that it has not been decided how much of what Samba will supply to Korea. "Think about who gets the vaccines made in Europe," he hinted. This is a multi-probable statement and should not be construed as a sub-acquisition, but I was very curious to see how Samba and Moderna concluded this contract in the meantime. If Samba can produce a lot of vaccines as soon as possible and help the domestic corona situation, there is no reason to hesitate.
It is also worth reflecting on why the Korean government is facing such a difficult situation in its vaccine policy this year. In the meantime, I've tried my best to purchase additional vaccines, but the reason I'm still experiencing difficulties can only be said to be because I put the first button wrong. Although the United States still recognizes Korea as an advanced country in the prevention of quarantine, there is no disagreement that the situation would have been much better than any other country if we had received a vaccine on time. It is true that the more time passes, the more regretful it is that we missed the opportunity to sign a contract to introduce a vaccine on good terms by emphasizing only the best prevention of K in the early stages of Corona. In the future, the corona may disappoint the government and our people again and again. It is necessary to carefully examine how the international community responds and seriously consider what is a preemptive measure that will benefit the national interest. It hurt even more when the Alexandrian security guards in front of the Moderna building asked, "Korea has enough money to buy a vaccine, so why didn't you buy a vaccine earlier?"