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After Biontech / Pfizer, the American company Moderna also achieved success in vaccine development. A comparison.
In the global race for a corona vaccine, another research project has reported decisive success. Moderna is the second major US pharmaceutical company to submit positive data from the relevant study for approval with a corona vaccine in one week. Last Monday, Mainz biotech company Biontech and its American partner Pfizer were the first companies in the world to publish a success story from their crucial study. An overview of the two vaccines:
Effectiveness: According to the company, the corona vaccine from the American biotech group Moderna showed in an intermediate analysis 94.5 percent effectiveness in protecting against Covid-19. According to the study, the Biontech vaccination and the Pfizer vaccination offer more than 90 percent protection.
Durability: Moderna’s vaccine scores mostly for its shelf-life benefits compared to the Biontech vaccine. It does not need ultra-cold storage and can therefore be more easily delivered. Moderna expects it to be stable for 30 days at normal refrigerator temperatures of two to eight degrees Celsius and that it can be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius for up to six months.
The Biontech and Pfizer vaccine, on the other hand, should be shipped and stored at minus 70 degrees, and at normal refrigerator temperatures it can be stored for five days. The following applies: the colder a vaccine must be stored, the higher the logistical requirements.
Approval and production: Moderna hopes to apply for an emergency permit in the United States in the next few weeks. The European Medicines Agency on Monday launched an accelerated approval process for the vaccine. The federal government already secured 4.5 million doses of Moderna vaccines in August. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) assumes that the first vaccinations can also be carried out in Switzerland in the first half of 2021. The pharmaceutical supplier Lonza in Valais is said to produce the active ingredient. A production line is being installed at Visp and Lonza intends to start manufacturing there this year.
Pfizer and Biontech will apply for an emergency permit in the US in November. But it will take some time before the first doses of the vaccine are given. Experts assume that vaccines won’t be available until the end of the year at the earliest. Pfizer and Biontech expect to produce 50 million doses of vaccine this year.
RNA vaccines: Both vaccines are based on what is known as messenger RNA (mRNA), which is supposed to provide human cells with the information they need to fight pathogens. Such a vaccine should be able to be produced on a large scale faster than conventional ones. But it also needs more cooling. Biontech is already working to extend the shelf life of its vaccine at refrigerator temperatures.
