PARIS,\u00a0France\u00a0(AFP) \u2014 A\u00a0vaccine\u00a0jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in ongoing Phase 3 trials, the companies announced Monday.<\/p>\n
The statement was released as coronavirus cases are soaring across the world, and European stock markets and oil prices jumped on the news.<\/p>\n
According to preliminary findings, protection in patients was achieved seven days after the second of two doses, and 28 days after the first.<\/p>\n
“The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19\u00a0vaccine\u00a0trial provides the initial\u00a0evidence of our\u00a0vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“We are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We are reaching this critical milestone in our\u00a0vaccine\u00a0development program at a time when the world needs it most.”<\/p>\n
Across much of the globe, COVID-19 infections rates are hitting record highs, with hospital intensive care units filling up and death tolls mounting.<\/p>\n
Based on supply projections, the companies said they expect to supply up to 50 million\u00a0vaccine\u00a0doses globally in 2020, and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.<\/p>\n
US biotech firm Moderna, several state-run Chinese labs, and a European project led by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca are thought to be closing in on potentially viable\u00a0vaccines.<\/p>\n
Two Russian COVID-19\u00a0vaccines\u00a0have been registered for us even before clinical trials were completed, but have not been widely accepted outside of Russia.<\/p>\n
The Phase 3 clinical trial — the final stage — of the new\u00a0vaccine, BNT162b2, began in late July and has enrolled 43,538 participants to date, 90 percent of whom have received a second dose of the\u00a0vaccine\u00a0candidate as of November 8.<\/p>\n
Pfizer said it is gathering two months of safety data following the final dose — a requirement of the US Food and Drug Administration — to qualify for Emergency Use Authorisation, which it expects by the third week in November.<\/p>\n
“We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks,” Bourla said.<\/p>\n
– Dozens more candidates –<\/strong><\/p>\n The so-called messenger RNA, or mRNA,\u00a0vaccine\u00a0is a new approach to protecting against viral infection.<\/p>\n Unlike traditional\u00a0vaccines, which work by training the body to recognise and kill proteins produced by pathogens, mRNA tricks the patient’s immune system to produce viral proteins itself.<\/p>\n The proteins are harmless, but sufficient to provoke a robust immune response.<\/p>\n The study also will evaluate the potential for the\u00a0vaccine\u00a0candidate to provide protection against COVID-19 in those who have had prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2, as well as\u00a0vaccine\u00a0prevention against severe COVID-19 disease.<\/p>\n Pfizer and BioNTech plan to submit data from the full Phase 3 trial for scientific peer-review publication.<\/p>\n As of mid-October, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified 42 “candidate\u00a0vaccines” at the stage of clinical trials, up from 11 in mid-June.<\/p>\n Ten of them were at the most advanced phase 3 stage, in which a\u00a0vaccine’s effectiveness is tested on a large scale, generally tens of thousands of people across several continents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PARIS,\u00a0France\u00a0(AFP) \u2014 A\u00a0vaccine\u00a0jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in ongoing Phase 3 trials, the companies announced Monday. 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