Biden Administration Doles Out More Than $1 Billion for Future COVID-19 Vaccines, Drugs

President Joe Biden in Salt Lake City on Aug. 10, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

President Joe Biden’s administration is giving more than $1 billion to companies for the development of better COVID-19 vaccines and drugs.

Under the administration’s Project NextGen, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding $1 billion to four companies to run phase two clinical trials on vaccine candidates that are hoped to perform better than the current vaccines, which don’t protect well against infection or hospitalization.

The companies are ICON, which assisted with the original COVID-19 vaccine trials; Pharm-Olan; Technical Resources International; and Rho Federal Systems.

The agency is also doling out $326 million to Regeneron to develop a new monoclonal antibody for COVID-19, $100 million to the nonprofit Global Health Investment Corp. to manage investments in vaccines and drugs, and $10 million to Johnson & Johnson for a competition to develop new COVID-19 drugs.

“Project NextGen is a key part of the Biden–Harris Administration’s commitment to keeping people safe from COVID-19 variants,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “These awards are a catalyst for the program—kickstarting efforts to more quickly develop vaccines and continue to ensure availability of effective treatments.”

Dawn O’Connell, an HHS official overseeing the effort, said, “As the virus continues to evolve, we need new tools that keep pace with those changes. Project NextGen combines the research and development expertise at HHS with the lessons we have learned about the virus throughout the pandemic—strengthening our preparedness for whatever comes next.”

Robert Moffit, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Health and Welfare Policy, welcomed the investment in vaccines but said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown developing vaccines isn’t enough.

Authorities also need to improve safety monitoring and the development and distribution of therapeutics, Mr. Moffit told The Epoch Times via email.

The project was launched earlier this year on the same day that President Biden ended the COVID-19 national emergency. Officials have said that they hope the next generation of vaccines can prevent infection and transmission.

Vaccines, Drugs Don’t Work Well

Even with the early strains, protection from the COVID-19 vaccines started waning over time. As newer variants emerged, vaccines and drugs such as Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody started performing even worse initially, waning even faster. Against more recent variants, the protection even turns negative, according to some observational data.

U.S. authorities in 2021 cleared and recommended vaccine boosters to try to stave off the weakening protection, but studies soon showed that the boost was short lived.

Authorities in 2022 authorized and recommended updated vaccines that featured components of several strains, but those also haven’t held up well as the variants have shifted.

A boost from one of the updated shots sent protection against hospitalization from negative 8 percent to 29 percent, but the protection fell below zero after three months, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show.

Data from another CDC-run system found protection went to 51 percent from 9 percent but dropped to 20 percent after three months.

Studies on antibody levels, thought to be a marker of protection against COVID-19, have found that the updated vaccines induce higher levels but that the increase is less than hoped and dropped over time.

No monoclonal antibodies have been available since December 2022 after testing found that they provided little or no protection against the newer variants.

“Although COVID-19 has moved to an endemic stage, many people—including those with immunocompromising conditions—continue to face exposure that impacts their everyday life and could cause serious health consequences,” Dr. Leonard Schleifer, president and CEO of Regeneron, said in a statement. “We believe Regeneron can once again apply our drug discovery and development expertise to help prevent disease in vulnerable populations.”

There are several drugs still available, including Pfizer’s Paxlovid, Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, and Merck’s molnupiravir. Trial and study data have been mixed for many of the drugs, and there have been concerns over side effects. Off-label drugs such as ivermectin are also favored by some doctors.

Another Update Coming

Yet another slate of vaccines, not part of Project NextGen, is expected to be available in the fall, according to CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which authorizes and approves vaccines, directed Pfizer and other vaccine makers to update the formulations and drop the Wuhan strain for the first time.

The updated formulations will target XBB.1.5, an Omicron subvariant.

Critics say the update won’t work well because the subvariant is already largely displaced from the United States.

Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax have also stated that their updated vaccines performed well in clinical trials or preclinical testing.

Moderna stated that preliminary trial data show “a significant boost in neutralizing antibodies” against circulating variants, including EG.5, known by some as Eris. Novavax stated that its new vaccine induced “broadly neutralizing responses” to the variants in animal studies. Pfizer told media outlets that testing in mice shows that its updated vaccine “effectively neutralized” XBB variants, including EG.5.