Gone Viral: Vaccine and Drug Development as a Global Effort in Germany and the U.S.

Panel Discussion des Deutsch-Amerikanischen Instituts Tübingen in Kooperation mit der Technologieförderung Reutlingen-Tübingen und dem Weltethos-Institut

In January of 2020, long before the COVID-19 pandemic reached its first peak, Biontech/Pfizer started developing a vaccine against the virus. By December, the first vaccinations were administered and since then, a number of other vaccines have been approved for use in Germany and the U.S. or entered Phase III clinical trials. Among them are not only the Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac, but also Prime Vector Technologies, a start-up developing a vaccine in collaboration with the Department of Immunology of the University of Tuebingen, and Atriva Therapeutics, who work on a drug against COVID-19. But what does it take to fight a virus like SARS-CoV-2? What makes these viruses so contagious in the first place? And, can small start-ups compete with big pharma in the race to working vaccines and drugs?

In this panel discussion, Dr. Adam Lauring, a virologist from the University of Michigan, Dr. Ralf Amann, Chief Executive Officer at Prime Vector Technologies, and Prof. Dr. Oliver Planz, Chief Science Officer at Atriva Therapeutics, will discuss how vaccines and drugs against COVID-19 are developed, tried and cleared for use on humans, as well as how funding works in Germany and the United States.

Moderation:
Dr. Siegfried Bialojan, former Executive Director Life Science Center Mannheim

• In English
• Watch for free on Zoom at http://www.dai-tuebingen.de/viral or on YouTube at http://www.dai-tuebingen.de/tv