dimis.org
  • ABOUT
  • SPEAKING
  • WORKSHOPS
  • CONSULTING
  • BOOKS +
    • The Art of Innovation
    • The Heart of Innovation
    • Y2.200K - a chronicle
    • The Art of Innovation Pack
    • Cards >
      • Leading Innovation Fluency Cards
      • Leading Innovation Practical Cards
  • BLOG +
    • ARTICLES
    • NEWS & EVENTS
  • VIDEOS +
  • CLIENTS
  • CONTACT

"Make no mistake about  it, your mistakes are your best friends."
Dimis Michaelides

The Finest Innovations of 2020. They are grounded in good science.

7/12/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
​In the early nineties I worked for Zeneca, a pharmaceuticals and plant protection company. At the time it took 10-12 years for a drug or vaccine to go from lab to market. I recall heated conversations on how to shorten this time when we could.

Until yesterday, it still took 10-12 years to get a vaccine to market. Until yesterday that is, when an entirely new type of COVID-19 vaccine was registered in the UK less than 10 ½ months after the genetic code of the coronavirus was discovered. 

About 40-50 COVID vaccines are on trial. Two have been registered for use in Russia and at least two from China are in widespread use, but these have not completed the stage 3 large-scale trials normally required for registration. At this point in time, the western scientific community knows more about the vaccines which have completed the large-scale trials - from BioNTech/PFIZER, MODERNA and AstraZeneca.
Vaccines are at different stages of development. They come from different countries, with different modes of action, different storage temperatures, and will likely have different degrees of efficacy. They come from big pharma and from stellar biotech start-ups as well as from state organizations and universities. There are many public-private collaborations to make fast-track possible.

COVID-19 is having a horrifying impact on the world. As I write, WHO has recorded nearly 64 million cases and nearly 1,5 million deaths confirmed, real figures are likely to be higher. It has devastated lives and livelihoods, businesses and economies. It has flared up political rivalries and has given rise to a torrent of pseudoscience. An anti-government demonstration in Cyprus recently was hosted by extreme right-wingers, anti-mask protesters, anti-vaxxers and cranks with a 5G phobia.

The vaccines may indeed have long-term effects that we do not yet know, though the scientific community can explain why certain adverse effects are extremely unlikely. On balance, it’s a good risk for most people and, who knows, if enough people take it, COVID-19 might even become history.

We are not there yet. Now come the challenges of buying and selling, distribution and storage and, crucially, managing supply and demand. The markets will not by themselves ensure that most needy people get the shot first, or that people in poor countries get it at all. These problems are surely easier to deal with than lockdowns and overcrowded health facilities.

No innovation is more urgent and valuable today and it was only possible with full co-operation of states and regulating bodies and private organizations

This is why my prize for the finest innovations of 2020 goes to all those creators of the vaccines which are registered for use by the end of the year. 

One year instead of ten years. I bow to you and thank you all, finest Innovators of the Year 2020!

Picture
I am a keynote speaker, author, consultant and trainer in leadership, creativity and innovation. 
Contact me for a workshop or a presentation at 
[email protected]
  
or register for my newsletter at  www.dimis.org. 
You can also connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    LATEST POSTS
    • TWELVE TIPS TO BOOST YOUR CREATIVITY 
    • HAPPY NEW YEAR - HOW HAPPY YOU ARE DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU LIVE (AND MORE)
    • CREATIVITY - A TOOL FOR INNOVATION - THE ARTIST AND THE BUSINESS
    • THREE TIPS ON ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
    • EXECUTIVE EXCELLENCE - INTERVIEW WITH NICOS AND KORALLIA TIMOTHEOU
    • THE HEART OF INNOVATION - A NEW BOOK BY DIMIS MICHAELIDES
    • STRATEGIC THINKING - TWO THINGS THAT CHANGED AND TWO THAT DIDN'T
    • WHEN DOES STRIKING ALONE WORKS BEST?
    • TART-UP OR START-UP. TWO INNOVATION STRATEGIES 
    • THREE TIPS ON ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
    • DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: THE NEW PATH TO INNOVATION
    • BE CREATIVE, YES YOU CAN
    • NEW NOVEL LOOKS AT THE FUTURE OF PEACE ON EARTH
    • FOOD FOR THOUGHT :INNOVATION MENU FOR 2019
    • INNOVATION : WHAT KIND AND HOW FAST?

    • ARTICLES OF 2019
    • ARTICLES OF 2018
    • ARTICLES OF 2017
    • ARTICLES OF 2016
    • ARTICLES OF 2015

    Archives

    July 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018

Tweets by @dimistweet
  • ABOUT
  • SPEAKING
  • WORKSHOPS
  • CONSULTING
  • BOOKS +
    • The Art of Innovation
    • The Heart of Innovation
    • Y2.200K - a chronicle
    • The Art of Innovation Pack
    • Cards >
      • Leading Innovation Fluency Cards
      • Leading Innovation Practical Cards
  • BLOG +
    • ARTICLES
    • NEWS & EVENTS
  • VIDEOS +
  • CLIENTS
  • CONTACT