UK Beefs Up Health Security Body With New Vaccine Supply Role
Agency Urged To Engage 'Closely' With UK Industry
Executive Summary
The UK government says that the UKHSA will be able to “harness the strengths” of the Vaccines Taskforce, including its “excellent relationships with industry” and “expertise in innovation.”
In taking over responsibility for COVID-19 vaccine supply from the Vaccines Task Force next month, the UK Health Security Agency should ensure that “key elements” of the VTF’s legacy are “retained and strengthened through close engagement with industry,” the UK government says.
The UKHSA will also be responsible for setting up a Centre for Pandemic Preparedness as “a world-leading hub on all aspects of pandemic preparedness.” In addition, it will have a “robust program” for delivering medical countermeasures such as the procurement, storage and deployment of medicines, and securing advance purchase agreements for pandemic-specific flu vaccines.
The priorities for the revamped UKHSA covering the period from April 2022 to March 2023 have been outlined in a letter from health minister Maggie Throup to Jenny Harries, the agency’s chief executive. The letter says the agency is “our permanent standing capacity to prepare for, prevent and respond to threats to health” and that it will continue its response to COVID-19 as well as focusing on a wider range of health security priorities.
The VTF, which was set up in April 2020, has been responsible for securing access to COVID-19 vaccines as quickly as possible, arranging vaccine distribution, and strengthening the UK’s capabilities in vaccine development, manufacturing and supply chain to help provide resilience to future pandemics. It consists of a mix of civil servants, external secondees from industry, and contractors.
In her letter, Throup says the transfer of the taskforce’s responsibilities to the UKHSA in September offers an opportunity for the agency to “harness the strengths of the VTF.” These include its “excellent relationships with industry,” a “culture of delivering at pace,” and “expertise in innovation.”
Once these responsibilities have been moved to the UKHSA, “progress will be assessed at an agreed point in the year.”
Working On Global Health Security
The UKHSA, which became fully operational in October 2021, was set up to help develop COVID-19 vaccines and in the longer term to take steps to deal with other infectious diseases and external health threats.
The letter says that the agency will now co-ordinate closely with the Office for Life Sciences to support delivery of the government’s Life Sciences Vision, which outlines the government and life science industry's ambitions for the sector over the next decade or so. It will also work with the Department of Health and Social Care on global health security policy.
“Research will be a high priority, including through collaborative programmes with academia and industry, particularly playing an important role in signalling to research funders key priorities for research.”
The agency is also to deliver a “resilient and scalable infrastructure, including testing to protect against future waves of COVID-19, future pandemics and wider health threats,” and develop “a new strategic approach to pandemic preparedness to prevent, detect, track and respond to public health threats rapidly, harnessing the power of advances in technology and data science such as genomic surveillance.”
COVID-19 Vaccinations & Treatments
From September, the UKHSA will “build on the VTF’s legacy by retaining many elements of its structure, approach and culture, including through close engagement with suppliers, utilising technical and commercial expertise, and centralised procurement,” according to the letter.
This will cover existing and future contracts for vaccine supply including the recently announced Heads of Terms with Moderna, it adds. In June, Moderna and the UK government sealed a deal on a long-term partnership that includes the construction of new mRNA vaccine research and manufacturing facilities. (Also see "Moderna Makes Major mRNA Commitment To UK" - Scrip, 22 Jun, 2022.)
Building on the experiences of the VTF, the UKHSA may be required to respond to emergencies such as a new COVID-19 variant or a novel pandemic threat.
As part of its core activities, the agency will “maintain and manage supply of centrally procured vaccines, including response on supply disruptions,” and ensure the “end-to-end security and resilience of vaccine supply chains against risks to both supply and demand.”
It will also support the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which among other things makes recommendations on vaccination campaigns.
The UKHSA will have an additional role in helping to develop a future vaccine strategy, according to the letter. It will collaborate on the design, development and implementation of a future operating model for COVID-19 and flu vaccination programs, drive take-up of vaccines, and “support maintenance and supply of antivirals to ensure continued deployment of life-saving treatments for COVID-19.”
It will prepare and manage the supply and current stockpiles of antivirals, which will be “built up as part of the Antivirals and Therapeutic Taskforce procurement,” and “provide antiviral medicines deemed to be cost effective” by the health technology assessment body NICE “for future COVID-19 waves” or wherever oral antivirals are likely to be effective.
Centre For Pandemic Preparedness
Another role of the UKHSA is to establish the Centre For Pandemic Preparedness (CPP) as a “world-leading hub on all aspects of pandemic preparedness with a focus on securing the health of the UK population,” the letter notes.
It will work with partners to deliver key elements of a new strategic program on pandemic preparedness, such as future strategies for surveillance and diagnostics, working with “partners at the forefront of the COVID-19 response to capture lessons identified that will support preparedness planning.”
Antimicrobial Resistance
According to the letter, the UKHSA will also support the government’s aim of containing and reducing the impact of the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by delivering its commitments in the five-year AMR action plan for 2019 to 2024. It may be called on to offer support to international efforts to combat AMR, “including advice on potential new international commitments to be agreed at the UN High-level Meeting on AMR in 2024.”