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Pfizer today announced that its experimental vaccine has been shown to be more than 90% effective in preventing infection with the new coronavirus. The conclusion is based on data from a large study, and the first comments are that this is a great victory in the battle against COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of more than 1 million people around the world and brought their lives to a standstill. normal and the economy.
The development is in conjunction with German partner BioNTech SE and is the first to show success in a large-scale clinical trial of a vaccine. So far, we haven’t found any serious side effects or safety consequences, the two companies say. Later this month, they will seek the license from the US pharmaceutical regulator.
Paul Hudson, chief executive of French giant Sanofi, said minutes later at a conference in the Financial Times that they, too, are closing the gap with their competitors in developing a vaccine. Europe is much better prepared for a vaccine of this type to reach the population, he added.
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- Germany’s national vaccination strategy foresees up to 7 developments, including AstraZeneca, BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna, in 2020 or early next year to complete testing and approval of specific products in the first quarter of 2021. But the first will be limited And although vaccination will be free (health funds and provincial authorities will have to bear the cost of vaccination centers), it will still have to be widely approved by the population. Efficacy can be expected by vaccinating approximately 70% of Germans.
Even if the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is approved, questions remain about the lasting immunity it will create. Competition and the variety of vaccines can provide answers.
“Today is a great day for science and humanity,” said Albert Burla, President and CEO of Pfizer. “We are approaching a very important moment in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most, the number of infected sets new records, hospitals are approaching capacity and economies are trying to reopen. “, said. in an official statement quoted by Reuters.
It states that the US permit will be to vaccinate people between the ages of 16 and 85. Such a permit is issued if data is collected in at least a 2-month trial and from approximately half of the 44,000 participants involved. They are expected to be available at the end of November. The US Food and Drug Administration has set a 50% threshold for approving a coronavirus vaccine.
© Reuters
“I’m almost excited,” said Bill Gruber, one of Pfizer’s leading vaccine scientists. “This is a great day for public health and for the potential for all of us to get out of the situation we find ourselves in.”
The company says the preliminary analysis was conducted among 94 volunteers who received the vaccine in two doses over three weeks. It is not reported how many of those vaccinated have become ill, but a claim of more than 90% effectiveness should mean that there are no more than 8 people. To convincingly demonstrate the effectiveness of the defense, Pfizer will continue to test until there are 164 cases of infection among participants. Gruber says this could happen in early December.
The company’s announcement has yet to be published in a medical journal and has been verified by other specialists to confirm it. Pfizer says the publication will be made when the entire test is complete.
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- First comments
- As for the impact of the pandemic, “this is good news, but it is not a ‘sudden success’,” he said. Danny Altman, Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London. Remember that not just for Pfizer, but for everyone, the rule of thumb is that you still need regulatory approval and dose distribution around the world, and this will take many months.
- Carsten Brzeski, Head of Global Analysis at Macro Research ING, believes that “the driving force behind the economic outlook is factors external to the economy; this currently means the development of a vaccine and that is why we are following this news very closely.” According to him, “the baseline scenario we are already in is that by the end of the year we will probably have a vaccine ready to produce. Therefore, this news is positive for us, but the alarm may be a negative test data, it will obscure economic forecasts “.
It has a contract with the United States for the supply of 100 million doses for 1.95 billion dollars, starting in 2020. There is also a supply agreement with the EU, Great Britain, Canada and Japan.
To save time, the two companies started producing vaccines before they knew they were effective, according to Reuters. Now they say they expect to have up to 50 million doses, that is. vaccinate 25 million people before the end of the year. Up to 1.3 billion doses are expected to be produced next year.
