Impact of Covid-19 on biotech firms: “We’ve just powered through, but now we need more support.”

Photo credit: ©️ Algenex

When they got the news a year ago that a global pandemic was threatening the planet and we would probably have to be on lockdown at home, many biotech companies drew a blank. “What do we do? Should we stop our trials temporarily? When should we start up again? Should we switch projects?” everyone was wondering in February and March. But at that time, there weren’t any answers. The time came to make decisions, blindly, faced with thousands of uncertainties. While SARS-CoV-2 overwhelmed most, biotech companies looked for opportunities to find solutions, but not without complications.

One example is Algenex, a company that produces proteins for vaccines on a large scale, using the chrysalides of cabbage moths as natural bioreactors and production tools. The team was already aware that their platform could help fight a pandemic like the one we’re experiencing now. In fact, they were already working on a vaccine for a zoonotic flu strain. It took them a few weeks to switch the focus of their activities to Covid-19 because, as General Manager Claudia Jiménez explains, they couldn’t have imagined its magnitude. “But by March it was clear that this wasn’t going to end anytime soon and that there was an opportunity for us in it. Because each insect has up to 27 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine (for others there can be up to 80 doses) and it doesn’t cost anything to raise them,” she notes.  

Keeping up activity in a market that has collapsed

But, despite this drive and opportunity, companies had to wait. It took time for the sequenced virus genes to become available, which is something several AseBio members commented on. “We had the feeling that collaboration wasn’t very easy, that it was taking a while for materials to arrive and to be shared,” laments Jiménez, based on the company’s experience waiting for material from China.

Algenex wasn’t the only company that changed tack to focus on Covid-19 that was affected by a lack of public-private cooperation. Belén Barreiro, CEO of Ingenasa, tells a similar story. “It was very hard to get access to samples in February and March. There weren’t many people in Spain who had been infected and had antibodies to work on our diagnostic,” she explains. Once these limitations were no longer a problem, Ingenasa came up against another obstacle. “We couldn’t get into the Spanish market, or into hospitals, despite having a product that had been validated by many organizations,” she adds before specifying that they are exporting their product outside our borders. One cause of this is not knowing enough about the ins and outs of the immense regulatory and production network. “We haven’t been able to access the standard or the exceptional market channels created for the pandemic. This was clearly due to lack of expertise and availability due to the collapse,” Barreiro admits.

Biolan is another company that saw an opportunity to develop new systems to detect the disease that was devastating the planet, but they came up against a similar problem: “We had a lot of trouble with the commercial side. Until you have the validation and the numbers, it’s hard to do any commercialization. That’s what we’re going to try now [in January],” explains the company’s CEO Asier Albizu. This entrepreneur told us about some of the obstacles that have slowed the process, including the hurdles for private entities working and commercializing material. 

Spain’s dependence on foreign materials and equipment is also an issue that the pandemic highlighted. Not only in the delays, but also in the cost of materials: “To give you an idea: yesterday I paid €14,000 for an order that should have cost €5,000. My expenses are three times higher because I don’t have local production, and that’s not good,” he explains. “We’re building our own ecosystem [to produce locally] and it’s a lot of work, but we still haven’t seen any support,” insists Albizu. In this line, Marisol Quintero, CEO of Highlight Therapeutics, an oncology company, is very clear: “You either invest in biotechnology or you’ll come out of this weaker.” “We need public funding to be braver,” highlights Barreiro, who is also vice president of AseBio.

An agile, flexible network, despite the delays

In short, biotechnology has proven its resilience during this crisis, but it hasn’t been easy. Companies have also seen some shortcomings in the system and, specifically, in production and regulatory issues, as our members have noted. And not only those in the private sector working on Covid-19. “Small companies that weren’t working on Covid-19 got pushed to the end of the line,” says Quintero. “There were problems ensuring the supply of injectable products, for example, and for small companies like ours, you have to have everything really well tied down to get them. Plus, the regulatory agencies had completely collapsed under the pressure of Covid-19, imports and exports of all sorts of material,” she specifies. The company had to find a way to keep its essential activity running within this flurry of activity focusing on the healthcare emergency.

Beatriz Maroto, Chief Operating Officer at Amadix, echoed this idea, as the company has had to stop its activity and couldn’t recruit patients for its colorectal cancer research. They needed patients to go into the hospital to take blood samples, but no one could do that. “All resources went to Covid-19 and doctors didn’t have time for us anymore. The pandemic has had a huge impact on diagnosis of other diseases, like cancer,” she laments.

But we can always learn from our mistakes. Maroto believes that the pandemic has demonstrated the possibility and need for making regulatory and funding processes and deadlines more flexible. “If we’ve been able to do it now, with all these obstacles and without recognition historically, until now, imagine what we could do with more support and agility from institutions,” she notes. 

A stronger sector that is up to the task but needs help

Although they weren’t in the spotlight, Quintero says they kept to their 2020 calendar. “We’ve been able to maintain the pace we wanted,” she says. The key was to have decentralized activity, as the pandemic affected each region differently and things could advance in Valencia, for example, while in Madrid the hospitals were a mess and didn’t have a moment’s break. “Everyone knew that oncology, as it is a top priority, couldn’t stop,” Quintero recognizes. The lesson she shares with us is that diversifying operations in different regions has been a huge advantage. But, even so, something had to change. Clinical studies, which have always required a lot of face-to-face contact, are now done remotely: “Now, at most, the doctor treating patients is there, so you have to choose them wisely.” 

Others who banked on contacts abroad included the team at Biolan. They saw the pandemic coming from far off thanks to their relationships in the Asian market and were able to react before the chaos was unleashed. The first thing they kicked off, as Albizu explains, was digitalizing the company (already well underway), followed closely by stocking up (three times normal stock) and, finally, applying for loans (which they had no trouble getting) to ensure a solid financial foundation, regardless of what happened. Plus, as they have a highly active food branch (biosensors to detect product quality) that has grown 10% thanks to ties with Asia and Africa, they’ve been able to stay afloat and develop the healthcare side of the business. “Now is the time to move faster so you don’t get left behind. We’re focused on Covid-19, but all our products could be used for other pandemics,” he confirms.

The remote system has also benefited some organizations that have forged tighter bonds abroad and opened up new business opportunities. One company that was established just months after the state of emergency, Arthex Biotech, managed to grow and get a capital increase in the unexpected and worrying year that was 2020. Pedro Fernández, Director of Operations at the spinoff, explains that there was a time of uncertainty and they were afraid because all their activity was tied to the University of Valencia, which had closed its doors. That uncertainty didn’t last long. With the healthcare crisis, they had more opportunities to attend events thanks to online systems, giving them an even fuller agenda. “We realized, speaking with potential investors, that people were interested in our technology and results. They liked the concept and the science behind it,” he explains. Everything came together and they forged new contacts that they closed commercial deals with. “They believed in the project and we had a very positive feeling about it. The pandemic has spurred us on,” he concludes.

Despite all these hurdles, all the companies have a positive outlook on this past year that put them in the spotlight of the economy, politics, science, and society. They all share a vision for a better future and believe the impact will be positive in the long term, for the sector and the country. “I want to stress the idea that the sector has been up to the challenge in this difficult time. With the limited resources we’ve had and been given so far, we’ve been there. The sector has the indispensable power to position us well for the future and whatever happens. We need more support, but I think we’ve been exemplary. We’ve slowed down, we’ve adapted, but we’ve never stopped pushing forward,” concludes Maroto, in line with the sentiments of the rest of the experts we spoke with. “I hope that feeling, that society now understands how a vaccine works and its regulatory process, helps us attract more investment to companies with potential. We are in a position of leadership, but we all need more institutional support,” finishes Quintero. 

 

By Raquel Álvarez and Agathe Cortes