A Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech has been found to be more than 90 per cent effective, in a major breakthrough that could make the shot available for use by the end of the year if drug authorities give it the green light.
The finding was the result of the first independent analysis of any Covid-19 vaccine in phase 3 trials — the final stage before commercial licensing.
The study found that 94 participants who received the two-dose vaccine were protected against the disease 28 days after their first inoculation.
“To me, this is the best possible outcome,”
Ugur Sahin, co-founder and chief executive of BioNTech told the Financial Times,
While Pfizer boss Albert Bourla said it was:
“a great day for science and humanity”.
“The risk-benefit profile is in clear favour of benefit, it fulfils all the criteria to be processed fast,” Mr Sahin added. He said that the drug would be submitted to authorities for emergency approval within a matter of weeks.
The results far exceed the US Food and Drug Administration’s criteria for approving a Covid-19 vaccine, which mandates an efficacy of at least 50 per cent in placebo-controlled trials.
Pfizer, which has a $1.95B contract with the U.S. government for vaccines, says its #COVID19 vaccine is 90% effective.
But the results have not been peer-reviewed or published, and are based on an analysis of 94 volunteers who developed coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/7Ly1OVBv3i
— AJ+ (@ajplus) November 9, 2020
No vaccine is 100 per cent effective, according to the World Health Organization. Pfizer shares jumped almost 10 per cent in pre-market trading in New York.