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An active ingredient must offer more than 90 percent protection. Biontech and Pfizer report that. The markets react extremely, Donald Trump rejoices.
Positive data: a vaccine from two companies gives hope in the fight against Covid.
Reuters
For the first time, there are interim results from the study phase that are decisive for the approval of a corona vaccine that is relevant for Europe. The German company Biontech and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced this Monday that their vaccine offers more than 90 percent protection against the Covid-19 disease.
There were no serious side effects. Biontech and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer are expected to apply for approval from the US FDA starting next week. “This is the first evidence that Covid-19 can be prevented with a vaccine in humans,” Biontech chief Ugur Sahin told Reuters. A “decisive milestone” has been reached for the control of Covid-19.
Accelerated process
The BNT162b2 vaccine had been developed by Biontech in the “Lighspeed” project since mid-January. The phase 3 study, crucial for its approval, began in several countries in late July. Meanwhile, more than 43,500 people have received at least one of the two vaccines, which are administered every three weeks. According to the manufacturer, protection by vaccination is achieved one week after the second injection.
In the study, a total of 94 cases of the disease were confirmed as of Sunday. According to the information, the results are only finally evaluated when a total of 164 cases is reached. In addition, it will be checked to what extent vaccination not only protects against Covid-19, but also against severe courses of the disease. In general, both the protective effect and the side effects should be observed over a period of two years.
The companies did not break down exactly how many of those infected received the vaccine. However, according to the effectiveness rate, eight or less of the 94 cases of disease must have been registered in the group with vaccinated participants and the rest in the control group, which received a placebo.
An expedited approval process is applied to the corona vaccine due to its particular urgency. Manufacturers of pharmaceutical products can submit individual reports on the quality, safety and efficacy of a preparation to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) even before the full application for approval. In addition to Biontech, the British-Swedish company Astrazeneca started a continuous review process for its candidate vaccine some time ago. Astrazeneca has not released any Phase III data yet. Nothing can be said about the schedule, a spokeswoman said Monday.
50 million cans by the end of the year
The Biontech preparation is a so-called RNA vaccine. It contains genetic information about the pathogen, from which the body produces a virus protein, in this case the surface protein that the virus uses to penetrate cells. The goal of vaccination is to stimulate the body to produce antibodies against this protein to intercept viruses before they enter cells and multiply.
Biontech and Pfizer hope to be able to provide up to 50 million doses of vaccines worldwide this year, and next year they expect up to 1.3 billion doses. Many governments have previously secured millions of doses of the vaccine, including those in the US, Japan and the UK.
Countries like Russia, China and recently Bahrain have already launched other vaccines with restrictions and are already vaccinating parts of the population with them. But how well these vaccines actually protect and what side effects they can have is currently largely open.
Cautious Spahn, Trump is happy
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said he was pleased that a German company was ready. But since there can always be setbacks in vaccine development, the government is more cautious that a vaccine will only be available in the first quarter of 2021.
There was less reluctance on the stock markets: the news about the corona vaccine had them cheering around the world. Meanwhile, the Swiss benchmark SMI has soared to more than 10,600 points. The last time it was traded higher in February. At around 1:25 p.m., the SMI gained 2.2 percent to 10,567 points.
All over Europe there is a fireworks display on the stock exchange. In Germany, for example, the advantage of 4.5 per cent to more than 13,000 points is even greater than in Switzerland. The SMI is much more defensive than the Dax. The leading euro zone index, EuroStoxx 50, is up 4.9 percent at 3,362.09 points and there is also a strong increase in Paris, London, Milan and Madrid.
In the morning, the stock markets had risen sharply in response to the outcome of the US presidential election. With Joe Biden’s victory, a significant element of uncertainty is removed. Cyclical and financial stocks particularly benefited from this.
The news is also causing movement on the currency front: both the euro and the dollar have gained against the franc. The exchange rate of the common European currency rose again above 1.07 francs to 1.0723 francs and the dollar jumped to the 0.90 mark.
