Each of the OWS vaccine companies we talked to told us that the primary
difference between COVID-19 vaccine development and vaccine
development in a non-pandemic environment was the compressed
timelines under which they were working. In addition, to speed up the
availability of the vaccines, companies initiated large-scale manufacturing
while collecting data on clinical trial participants. In a June 2020 guidance
document, FDA identified some ways that COVID-19 vaccine
development may be accelerated.32 For example, the guidance document
states that companies may accelerate development by relying on
knowledge gained from similar products manufactured with the same
well-characterized platform technology, to the extent legally and
scientifically permissible. All OWS vaccine companies indicated that prior
experience on the vaccine platform helped support key steps that would
normally be conducted for each individual vaccine.
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