German company BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer announced on Monday that early results from ongoing phase 3 trials showed that their vaccine was 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections.
The statement from the two companies is the first release of successful data from a large-scale trial of coronavirus vaccines. According to their reports, they found no serious safety concersn connected with the vaccine.
If substantiated, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine would be a breakthrough in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
“The first set of results from our Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent Covid-19,” Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.
Analysis of the experimental vaccine trials appeared to effectively prevent infection in participants “without prior evidence of SARS-Cov-2 infection,” the joint statement said.
Over 43,500 people took part in the trial which has been ongoing since late July. The two companies said they would apply for authorization with the US Food and Drug Administration in the coming week.
Stock markets reacted positively to the news with Pfizer’s share increasing 6% while BioNTech’s US stocks lept by 18%.
William Schaffner, infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee responded to the published data, saying: “”The efficacy data are really impressive. This is better than most of us anticipated. I would have been delighted with efficacy of 70% or 75%. 90% is very impressive for any vaccine. The study isn’t completed yet, but nonetheless the data look very solid.”
Marylyn Addo, head of tropical medicine at the University Medical Center Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany was more cautious, saying: “Primary data are not yet available and a peer-reviewed publication is still pending. We still have to wait for the exact data before we can make a final assessment.”
The statement from the two companies is the first release of successful data from a large-scale trial of coronavirus vaccines. According to their reports, they found no serious safety concersn connected with the vaccine.
If substantiated, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine would be a breakthrough in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
“The first set of results from our Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent Covid-19,” Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.
Analysis of the experimental vaccine trials appeared to effectively prevent infection in participants “without prior evidence of SARS-Cov-2 infection,” the joint statement said.
Over 43,500 people took part in the trial which has been ongoing since late July. The two companies said they would apply for authorization with the US Food and Drug Administration in the coming week.
Stock markets reacted positively to the news with Pfizer’s share increasing 6% while BioNTech’s US stocks lept by 18%.
William Schaffner, infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee responded to the published data, saying: “”The efficacy data are really impressive. This is better than most of us anticipated. I would have been delighted with efficacy of 70% or 75%. 90% is very impressive for any vaccine. The study isn’t completed yet, but nonetheless the data look very solid.”
Marylyn Addo, head of tropical medicine at the University Medical Center Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany was more cautious, saying: “Primary data are not yet available and a peer-reviewed publication is still pending. We still have to wait for the exact data before we can make a final assessment.”
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