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Original caption: BioNTech CEO: If the virus mutation company can provide a new vaccine in six weeks Source: Wall Street
If the new corona vaccine needs to be adjusted, BioNTech said it is confident that the adjustment will be completed in six weeks. However, the adjusted vaccine may require additional review by regulatory agencies before it can be marketed.After the emergence of new strains of the new coronavirus in the UK, one of the most worrying problems in the world is whether the new coronavirus vaccines that have been developed are effective against the new strains and, if not, how much. It will take time to develop a suitable vaccine for the new strains.
Ugur Sahin, the first vaccine maker approved by the UK, the United States, Canada, the European Union and elsewhere, and the CEO of German pharmaceutical company BioNTech, said Tuesday that he is confident that the new coronavirus vaccine will has developed to fight new variants of the new British coronavirus, but more research is needed. . He also said that if the vaccine needs to be adjusted for new variants, it will take about 6 weeks to complete.
In recent weeks, new variants of the novel coronavirus have been discovered mainly in London and south-east England, and there are indications that this variant may spread more easily, attracting global attention. Although there is no indication that it causes more serious illness, Europe and many other places have restricted travel from the UK.
BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said at a press conference on Tuesday:
At present, we do not know if our vaccine can also provide protection against this new variant, but scientifically speaking, it is likely that the immune response of this vaccine can also cope with the new variant of the virus.
Sahin said that the protein in the British variant is 99% identical to the protein in the current main strain, so BioNTech has “scientific confidence” that their vaccine will be effective.
He said:
But only after the experiment is complete can we ensure that the vaccine is effective against the new strain, and it will take about two weeks from now to get the data. The possibility that our vaccine will work. . . Relatively high.
Sahin said that if the vaccine needs to be adjusted for the new variant strain, the company can complete the adjustment in about six weeks. However, this also means that if you want to vaccinate this adjusted vaccine, you still need regulatory approval.
The BioNTech vaccine developed jointly with the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has been licensed for use in more than 45 countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and the European Union. The number of people receiving the vaccine has reached hundreds of thousands.
The two companies submitted data to regulators, showing that the vaccine is 95% effective in preventing infection with the new coronavirus in Europe.
Sean Marett, BioNTech’s Chief Commercial Officer, said:
All European Union countries that have requested vaccines will receive the first batch of vaccines within five days and will increase their supply even further next week.
Several EU countries have indicated that they plan to start vaccination on Sunday. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said he expects the country to receive more than 1.3 million doses of the vaccine by the end of this year.
Due to the new variants, Germany has banned British flights from entering Germany.
But Lothar Wieler, director of the German National Center for Disease Control, said the latest strain of the British virus is likely to have spread in Germany.
