OPINION:
Thanks to our ever-emerging scientific understanding of biologic threats in the era of globalization, we have known that a pandemic would inevitably strike. Nearly 20 years ago, we had a dress rehearsal when we faced avian H5N1 virus or “bird flu.”
The threat of bird flu was the same as COVID-19 — a virus arising in an animal that is transferred among humans who had no immunity to fight it. Fortunately, the H5N1 virus turned out to be weak in its ability to travel from human to human.
But COVID-19 is far more challenging. It is easily transmitted — even by speaking to each other a few feet apart. People can carry and spread the virus for days before they know they are contagious. With no immunity or therapy available, the result has been a rapid, worldwide tragedy.
Our defense systems have failed. We let our guard down and were slow to sound the alarm and mobilize. But lessons from the past can help us now. With avian influenza, we learned that new threats from a natural or man-made biohazard could not be eliminated by old world technologies.
They require new technologies and a new way of doing business, both of which happily we now have. Over the past 15 years, billions of dollars invested in biomedical research have made those solutions possible.
Today, we have a vast network of biomedical research laboratories and modern manufacturing facilities capable of creating innovative cell therapies or cloned antibodies. They can also repurpose current drugs for widespread testing and rapid scale up of production.
Because of advances in digital information technology, experts also can disseminate and analyze research findings and clinical trial data to benefit a large population in a remarkably short period of time.
The Food and Drug Administration is ready to do just that. It is now armed with initiatives with potent sounding names that match their capabilities — like the Coronavirus Accelerator Therapeutics Program and the Data Accelerator Program.
With the help of these high-tech efforts, the agency has approved a record number of COVID-19 Investigational New Drug applications (to test potential therapies), Investigational Device Exemptions (to more quickly diagnose infections or past infections), Emergency Use Authorizations (to allow for use of various drugs and devices) and Expanded Access applications (to allow for use of products that are not yet approved for use in the United States).
The FDA, in other words, has learned that rapid response and teamwork, aided by technology, produce lifesaving results. We now know that siloed information is the enemy of a working public health campaign.
We also learned that a pandemic creates enormous social disruption and severe emotional strain. That means government officials need to bolster our mental health capability to support our emotions as we heal our bodies. But that’s a challenge for agencies other than FDA.
The digital age has allowed us to acquire, aggregate and share medical information so that its sophisticated analysis can inform us about the right intervention for the right patients. We can and must get even better at this so we can communicate in real time. All segments of our society must benefit equally from advances as we achieve them.
We must nurture that capacity in both the private and public sectors including by strengthening the resources and authorities of the FDA to engage with academia and industry. The goal: To accelerate even more the discovery, development and delivery of whatever will be needed to conquer the next pandemic.
The past has taught that America is always successful in responding to crises. The present is teaching us a new way to do so. The future demands we be good learners.
• Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD, is president of Samaritan Health Initiatives and a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and director of the National Cancer Institute.
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