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(CNN) – US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotech company BioNTech have begun testing an experimental human coronavirus vaccine in the United States, according to an announcement released Tuesday.
The companies announced that, as part of their global vaccine development program, the first American participants received doses of an experimental vaccine at the Grossman School of Medicine at New York University in New York and at the University of New York School of Medicine. Maryland.
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The companies’ coronavirus vaccine program is called BNT162. Study participants in the program in Germany already received doses of vaccines last week and the trial in the United States is now underway, according to the companies’ announcement.
“With our unique and robust clinical study program underway, starting in Europe and now in the US. In the US, we look forward to moving quickly and collaboratively with our partners at BioNTech and regulatory authorities to bring a safe and effective vaccine to the patients who need it most, ”said Albert Bourla, Pfizer President and CEO.
“The short time frame of less than four months in which we have been able to move from preclinical studies to human testing is extraordinary and further demonstrates our commitment to dedicate our best resources, from laboratory to manufacturing and beyond, to battle with covid-19, ”said Bourla.
Phase 1/2 of the program, currently underway, is designed to assess the safety, efficacy and best dose level of four candidates for mRNA vaccines and will be evaluated in a single ongoing study, the companies said. The first participants to be immunized in the first stage of the study will be healthy adults ages 18 to 55, according to the announcement.
“We are optimistic that moving towards multiple candidates in these human vaccine trials will allow us to identify the safest and most effective vaccination options against covid-19,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, in part in the announcement. .
Pfizer is not the only group with a possible covid-19 vaccine program so far. In April, scientists at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University in the UK began testing their vaccine in humans, and based on the results of the trial, they say the vaccine could be ready as early as September. The National Institutes of Health also began testing humans, becoming the first to do so in March.
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The World Health Organization says that eight vaccine programs are in the clinical trial phase and another 100 are in the preliminary phases.
