The SNP national conference has overwhelmingly backed a motion calling for the establishment of regional vaccination manufacturing hubs across Scotland, alongside the creation of Scotland’s own panel of scientific experts to advise the government and parliament.

Delegates voted 340 to five to support the move, which the backers of the motion say would make Scotland a world leader in vaccines development and production, give it a more resilient and environmentally sustainable vaccine supply chain and reduce the ‘brain drain of our most talented educated graduates’.

The SNP’s election manifesto earlier this year committed the government to establishing a National Pharmaceutical Agency which delegates heard ‘could include the provision of vaccines and regulate their manufacture’.

Currently the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) regulates medicines and vaccines licensing and manufacture for the whole of the UK.

The lead proposer for the motion, Grampian-based scientist Lynne Copland, told the Sunday morning session of the online conference that new manufacturing innovation calls into question the current approach to making vaccines – and some medicines:

“The traditional route for the manufacturers of vaccines has involved the production of millions of doses in one primary location and more recently these companies are now using new technologies to produce vaccines at multiple sites.

“The geographical concentration of research and development and manufacturing has been a key factor in leaving many countries vulnerable and experiencing difficulties accessing vaccine supplies.

“Developments in technology now mean that millions of vaccine doses can be produced in a unit about the size of a shipping container.

“Not only that; the equipment used to manufacture vaccines these days is modular and therefore very flexible. This makes the production of other drug products a possibility.”

Retired West Lothian GP Dr David Maxwell talked of the several occasions during his career when he experienced shortages of routine flu vaccine because of ‘quality production issues or the use of lengthy non-resilient supply chains’, something he said would not be an issue with a distributed model of production where neighbouring regional hubs could step in to fill any gaps:

“Geographically Scotland is well suited to regional vaccine manufacturing hubs. Our regional health services follow a natural geographic model and the siting of such hubs within these regions would shorten and strengthen supply chains with production of the vaccines much closer to the sites of administration.”

It’s unclear whether the backers of the proposal believe that such a model would be led by the government, NHS, academia or industry.

A third speaker East Renfrewshire Integration Joint Board chair, Councillor Caroline Bamforth, who also sits on the board of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said that price fluctuations of medicines caused by supply problems could be ‘quite unnerving’.

She backed the idea of extending local manufacturing beyond vaccines to medicines such as insulin, the bulk of which, she said, is being imported from Europe.

“In an independent Scotland we need to capitalise on the biosciences expertise that we have, and keep it here.

“People are our biggest asset with some of the best universities in the world producing highly qualified scientists but many of them have to go elsewhere to gain roles in research and development in pharmaceuticals and other industries.”

Meanwhile, the backers of the motion said that the proposal for a new Scottish advisory committee on microbiological and novel microbiological pathogens was not intended to replicate or replace existing agencies, but to ensure ‘vigilance across a wider range of potential biological threats’.

Policies agreed at the SNP’s national conference are taken forward by the party’s Policy Development Committee and National Executive Committee.

This story was written for healthandcare.scot

The Motion: regional vaccine manufacturing hubs

conference notes that the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic has highlighted both the current worldwide lack of vaccine manufacturing capacity, and the need to be able to respond to such events quickly and equitably.

Conference recognises that the ability to react to fast emerging public health emergencies going forward will include the ability to develop and produce novel vaccines, and notes that Scotland has significant potential to become a world leader in this field, with a thriving biotechnology sector.

Conference believes that it is crucial that a resilient Scotland has the ability to produce the vaccines needed for our own population, and it would also allow Scotland to provide assistance to other nations that may lack this capacity.

Conference therefore resolved to support the following:

1. the establishment of a scientific panel – a Scottish advisory committee on microbiological and novel microbiological pathogens – to advise the Scottish government and Scottish parliament on current, and possible emergent, microbial pathogens and toxins;
2. the establishment of world-class of vaccine development and production facilities in Scotland, in order to make full use of Scotland’s biotechnology infrastructure and biotechnology graduates, and to provide a safeguard Scotland’s own population.