Pharma giant Pfizer has announced an apparent breakthrough in developing a Covid-19 vaccine.
The company along with BioNTech SE has announced the vaccine BNT162b2 which they say demonstrated ‘evidence of efficiency against Covid-19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection’ based on independent interim analysis conducted just yesterday.
The companies have conducted the first interim analysis on 94 cases which were analysed and showed a vaccine efficiency rate above 90% at seven days after the second dose. Some cases were vaccinated and others received a placebo. There are hopes of achieving a higher rate after the first dose during the next development phase, and that they will have a potential vaccine for those who have already had Covid-19.
On current projections they expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent Covid-19,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO. “We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen. With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”
“I want to thank the thousands of people who volunteered to participate in the clinical trial, our academic collaborators and investigators at the study sites, and our colleagues and collaborators around the world who are dedicating their time to this crucial endeavor,” added Bourla. “We could not have come this far without the tremendous commitment of everyone involved.”
“The first interim analysis of our global Phase 3 study provides evidence that a vaccine may effectively prevent Covid-19. This is a victory for innovation, science and a global collaborative effort,” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, BioNTech co-founder and CEO. “When we embarked on this journey 10 months ago this is what we aspired to achieve. Especially today, while we are all in the midst of a second wave and many of us in lockdown, we appreciate even more how important this milestone is on our path towards ending this pandemic and for all of us to regain a sense of normality. We will continue to collect further data as the trial continues to enroll for a final analysis planned when a total of 164 confirmed Covid-19 cases have accrued. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to make this important achievement possible.”
The Phase 3 clinical trial of BNT162b2 began on July 27 and has enrolled 43,538 participants to date, 38,955 of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate as of November 8, 2020. Approximately 42% of global participants and 30% of U.S. participants have racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.
Welcoming reports of substantial progress made in establishing a coronavirus vaccine, Scottish Greens health spokesperson Alison Johnstone MSP said: “The news that rapid progress is being made toward a coronavirus vaccine is hugely encouraging and provides a much needed glimmer of light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel.
“It’s likely that distribution of a vaccine will present significant challenges though and people must be prepared to continue to abide by public health restrictions for the time being.
“Development of this vaccine has been a global effort, and so it’s vital that the distribution of the vaccine is not restricted to wealthy countries, but is available on an equitable basis around the globe.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
