BioNTech BNTX Shares,
and Pfizer Inc. PFE,
Both were launched into pre-market trade on Monday after companies said their experimental COVID-19 vaccine elicited a T-cell response in people participating in a phase 1/2 clinical trial in Germany. The vaccine candidate also again demonstrated that it can trigger an antibody response. BioNTech shares recovered 10.4% and Pfizer shares gained 4.1% before the market opened. Medical analysts and experts are paying close attention to two metrics in clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine candidates: neutralizing antibody titers and T-cell responses, which may indicate an antiviral response. The companies have previously published promising data from a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1 trial that is being conducted in the U.S. and reported higher neutralizing antibodies than those seen in people recovering from a coronavirus infection. This trial is a continuous, open-label, non-randomized, non-placebo controlled study, considered less rigorous, that enrolled 60 healthy adult participants. “Preliminary data indicates that our mRNA-based vaccine was able to stimulate antibody and T-cell responses at remarkably low dose levels,” Dr. Özlem Türeci, medical director of BioNTech, said in a press release. A Phase 2/3 trial with 30,000 participants is expected to begin this month if companies receive regulatory approval to move forward. Since the beginning of the year, BioNTech shares have soared 151.6% and Pfizer shares are down 7.5%. The S&P 500 SPX,
it has decreased 0.2% so far this year.
.
