Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • June 1, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com A s Connecticut continues to face one of the world's deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks, the state's bioscience industry has aggressively turned its focus to developing new breakthrough vaccines and treatments for the novel coronavirus. Some of the more than 150 vac- cine candidates and countless antiviral treatments in production globally are being developed by Connecticut-based or affiliated bio- pharmaceutical companies. For example, a COVID-19 vaccine created by global pharmaceutical gi- ant Pfizer, which has roughly 200 of its 5,000 Groton employees dedicat- ed to coronavirus-related projects, was the first to reach human clinical trials in the U.S., and could be avail- able for emergency use as early as this fall, according to John Bur- khardt, the Groton lab's site director and vice president of global drug safety research and development. Meriden's Protein Sciences, a divi- sion of French pharmaceutical com- pany Sanofi, is modifying previous development work on a SARS vaccine to expedite a potential COVID-19 vac- cine. The 100-employee Connecticut homegrown bioscience company also has the manufacturing capacity to produce large quantities of the vac- cine if it proves effective. Other COVID-19 vaccines and treatments in Connecticut's research and development pipeline are being studied by Farmington-based Caro- Gen; Biohaven, Alexion and Kleo Phar- maceuticals in New Haven; IsoPlexis in Branford; BioSig Technologies in Westport; and Shelton's NanoViricides. On separate fronts, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington is making, administering and analyzing coronavirus tests, while medtech giant Medtronic, which has a large manufacturing facility in North Haven, is sharing the design specs for one of its in-demand ventilators. "From viral treatment, to vac- cines, to testing, we are involved in all of it, which is really incredible," said Paul Pescatello, executive direc- tor of the Connecticut Bioscience Growth Council. "Connecticut is front and center on the COVID-19 vaccine and treatment front." Pescatello and drugmakers say Connecticut bioscience companies have been able to accelerate COV- ID-19 vaccine and treatment-related activities, in part, because the indus- try here has experience developing immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. There's also a greater willingness among biosci- ence companies to collaborate and pool knowledge and resources due to the economic and human suffering caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The efforts are part of a worldwide push to pool funding and resources to develop and manufacture effective vaccines for the global population. In Washington, D.C., the Trump administration has tasked a newly created program dubbed Operation Warp Speed — which ties together all major federal, medical, military and other oversight entities — with developing 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by January. Warp Speed has identified and invested more than $1 billion in COVID-19 vaccine candidates being developed by Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson. COVID-19 vaccine and treatment developments are moving at un- precedented speeds, according to Pescatello and Burkhardt, who say the bioscience community needs "multiple winners" to provide enough vaccines for the global population. "It shows the great research capability and expertise we have in Connecticut that companies could pivot and turn to putting an army of researchers to work on the corona- virus and on COVID-19 vaccines," Pescatello said. "It's really amazing how much innovation and creativity is going on here in Connecticut." Pfizer's "Operation Lightspeed" Two promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the U.S. are being de- veloped by Pfizer and Boston biotech company Moderna, area drug mak- Race to a Remedy CT bioscience companies among global leaders in COVID-19 vaccine, treatment development Meriden's Protein Sciences, a division of pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, is developing a treatment and vaccine to combat COVID-19. FOCUS: HEALTH CARE PHOTO | SANOFI

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