As health experts around the world scramble to produce a vaccine against COVID-19, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about shark protection has warned that 500,000 sharks globally could be killed in the rush to come up with a treatment.
Shark Allies warned that mass production of a COVID vaccine that contains an adjuvant could decimate half a million of these sea animals because of a component found mainly in their livers.
An adjuvant, which is a pharmacological agent, helps boost the immune reaction of a vaccine. Almost a majority of commercial vaccines being developed today require this immunological substance.
There are various types of adjuvants for different types of COVID drugs, but some forms of treatment for influenza strains are produced using squalene oil, a substance found primarily in shark livers.
One of the most common adjuvants being manufactured containing shark squalene is MF59, which is found in influenza drugs like Fluad.
Squalene oil can also be found in humans and certain animals. In fact, the use of shark squalene for health or medical purposes has been practiced for many years. Some shark livers can weigh up to 90 kilograms.
British biotech group GlaxoSmithKline currently produces a flu vaccine containing shark squalene. The company is looking to make 1 billion doses of a COVID vaccine with the highly-coveted shark ingredient.
One of the biggest partnerships by GlaxoSmithKline is with Sanofi Pasteur, a major vaccine maker. The two pharmaceutical groups already developed an experimental treatment in their latest clinical tests.
An estimated 3,000 sharks would need to be killed to produce a ton of squalene for a vaccine. Shark Allies said administering a single dose of a COVID vaccine with squalene to the world population would mean some 250,000 sharks must be slaughtered.
According to a petition by Shark Allies, the production of shark squalene "requires relying on a finite, wild animal population," adding that a large number of shark species "are already at critical levels and won't withstand a rise in demand for a global vaccine," CTV News quoted the group as saying in the petition.
