Despite the many laudable actions in response to COVID-19 by individuals, institutions, governments and companies around the world, the pandemic has taken an immense toll on lives and livelihoods.

With more than 4.5 million reported deaths and 222 million infections worldwide, and economic costs estimated at over US$4 trillion of lost output,2 this is the greatest public health crisis in a century.

We can be certain that there will be future pandemics, fanned by both climate change  and globalization. There is wide agreement that the world needs to be much better prepared for the next pandemic.

Learning and applying the lessons from the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as from other recent infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics, will be pivotal to this work.

This position paper details two ambitious objectives of the pharmaceutical industry:

• Aim to develop effective and safe pandemic products within 100 days of a new pandemic declaration.
• Collaborate with governments, multilateral organizations, regulators, and other companies and sectors to ensure equitable access to those products for people worldwide.