Vaccinate around 15 million girls and boys around the world against human papillomavirus using vaccine produced in Belgium

Converting 2 ml of cell concentrate into 600 liters, it takes approximately 22 days to produce a batch of several hundred thousand doses of Cervarix. The vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV), already available with public funding from Spain, will immunize some 15 million boys and girls worldwide, laying the groundwork to prevent them from developing genital tumors linked to the pathogen.

This is just one example of the largest vaccine factory in the world.Its owner is British biopharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, better known as GSK, and is one of the companies being considered Big Pharma, and a reference in the field of immunity, together with France’s Sanofi. Le Monde went inside the factory in Wavre (Belgium) to see firsthand the complexity of vaccine production. As Nobel laureate Drew Weissman said this week: “A vaccine is not made in 10 months, it takes years of work and months of production.”

More than 140 years of searching for barriers to infectious diseases underpins the cutting-edge work the company performs today. More than 6,000 employees work in 24-hour shifts, which means there are no downtimes in the production process. The complex covers an area equivalent to 70 football fields.

From the moment you step through the door until you leave, you must have an escort; someone from the company always accompanies the invited person. A health questionnaire is completed before you get there (if they suspect you are sick, you don’t go in) and they verify everything is true. “We have to make sure that no substance is contaminated during any process. We follow all strict protocols. We handle biological materials and if it is suspected that something does not meet quality standards, it will be eliminated.” The person in charge of Building 26 put it bluntly explained. For security and data protection reasons we are not allowed to reveal his name.

There is a sculpture in the lobby of the main building. Remotiv It’s a giant strand of DNA that stretches nearly five floors, with glass windows visible from the lobby. Upon reflection, it reminded us of the iconic icon of the Jurassic Park legend – the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus rex. That is, people already know what regulation is in the world. It revealed a surprising fact: 70% of time is spent checking whether they are following quality control.

We realized this as we followed the HPV vaccine step by step through the corridors of Building 26. No one leaves or enters a room without being known. Everything is recorded, including us. Any mechanism or process in pipes, tanks, test tubes is monitored. There are some boards where green or red cards are placed depending on the exam results.

Of course, sterility control is maximized. Before entering Building 26, they reminded us that if we suspect we are sick, it is best not to enter. Not if we come into contact with a sick person. In addition, we were scrutinized by the person in charge, who taught us how to dress to enter: “Take off makeup, everything.” Earrings and watches were in the lockers. Enamel peeling off. If it is semi-permanent and cannot be removed, you will not have access.

Indeed, this should not come as a surprise to visitors, as the requirements are already known before passing through the security checkpoint at the venue. So, back to the adventure of finding out how a vial containing enough antigen could provide a shield against cancer for almost eight out of 10 people vaccinated, we ditched our street clothes and donned a full set of up to two layers of vaccine. Disinfect clothing daily, including hats, hoods, shoes, glasses, and gloves. In Building 26, the vast majority of the 400 workers go through this process every day.

There are various levels of protection depending on how close the person is to the material being processed, and persons are distinguished by color: light blue, green and dark blue. We have light blue and we’re not going into key rooms. From different windows along the corridor, such as the zoo’s reptile display case, we can see how other people dressed in green and dark blue handle substances and perform tasks next to tanks and test tubes. “During the production of the vaccine, more than 100 validation tests were performed,” recalls Dekoninck.

The colleague who accompanied us through Building 26 attested to this: “Before moving from one process to another, we carry out tests to understand the state of the substance.” Roughly speaking, he also compared it to the transfer from storage tanks Comparing the tasting process to the barrel: “We have to make sure safety standards are always met. “People don’t realize how important this all is. ”

If a glitch occurs, it can lead to stock-outs and delays in immunizing certain groups of people. For many viruses that have so far been forgotten thanks to vaccines, this will be an opportunity to resurface.

This fact was highlighted by Yan Sergerie, Vice President Global Medical, GlaxoSmithKline Adult Vaccine Portfolio. “It should be remembered that vaccination in older adults can reduce the impact of infectious complications, hospital admissions and even prevent death.” When targeting pneumococcal, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) ) This is especially important when administering immunizations. “The impact of RSV in older adults is also important because it is responsible for a significant number of deaths in those over 65 years of age (e.g., 89% in the United States).”

Wavre produces more than 20 vaccines. Some come in vials, some come in prefilled syringes, and some come in oral vials.Over 500 million doses sold in total by 2022, 90% of which have been sealed Made in Belgium, they are distributed in more than 160 countries. We can therefore deduce that the hepatitis B vaccine produced in Belgium, less than 30 kilometers from Waterloo, must have arrived in Spain; the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella; and the anti-rotavirus vaccine, which is available in oral (drinkable) doses ; In addition to meningitis and human papillomavirus (HPV); don’t forget pneumococcal, influenza and shingles.

It is worth noting that there are two support factories in Wavre, less than 10 minutes and 30 minutes away from Rixensart and Gembloux respectively. This will help increase production to 2 million doses per day. There is one critical step before production: the development of the vaccine. 30% of the employees in these factories are dedicated to this. “New technology platforms allow us to produce previously unimaginable vaccines against certain pathogens,” explains Phil Domitzer, senior vice president and head of vaccine development at GlaxoSmithKline.

However, the question that remains is why, if they were one of the top laboratories, they did not come up with a proposal for Covid-19 in time. “We are working with Sanofi and Medicago to develop a vaccine that is already in phase three,” Domitzer said.