Pharma giant Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech announced yesterday that the Phase III trials of their coronavirus vaccine had shown it to be more than 90% effective amongst people who have no evidence of prior infection, in what Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla described as “a great day for science and humanity.”
Pfizer - Credit - Montgomery County Planning Commission
The news comes amid a scramble by research laboratories and pharmaceutical companies to develop a safe, effective vaccine to help bring about an end to the pandemic, as the number of confirmed cases worldwide surpassed 50 million and more than 1.25 million people have lost their lives.
“I think we can see light at the end of the tunnel,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla told CNBC. “I believe this is likely the most significant medical advance in the last 100 years, if you count the impact this will have in public health, global economy.”
The finding is the result of the first independent analysis of a Covid-19 vaccine in Phase III trials - the last stage of clinical trials before a drug is commercially licenced.
Over 43,500 people took part in the trial, with 94 confirmed coronavirus cases among them. The two companies said the case split between individuals who were vaccinated and those who received a placebo indicated an efficacy rate of over 90%, seven days after the second dose.
This means that protection against Covid-19 is achieved 28 days after the first dose. With further safety and other data continuing to be collected, however, the final percentage may yet vary.
The reports found no serious safety issues with the vaccine, and researchers do not believe the immunisation will be short-lived.
“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,” said Bourla in a statement.
“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen,” he added.
“With today’s news, 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. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”
Many scientists have said they were hoping for a vaccine that was a minimum of 75% effective, while Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House coronavirus advisor said that 60% or even 50% would be acceptable.
The news had an immediate effect on the US stock market, with shares in airlines and other travel sectors - industries that have been hit especially hard by the pandemic - posting the largest gains.
“It sort of captures the imagination,” senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT, Tom Martin told CNBC. “You can now start imagining that, at some point in the future, life returns to normal. People go back outside, they don’t have to wear masks ... and the economy reopens.”
Using current projections, the two companies anticipate producing up to 50 million doses this year, and 1.3 billion in 2021.
With plans to deliver the vaccine across the world, questions are now being raised regarding transportation, logistics and distribution, largely around the issue of storage temperature.
Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine needs to be stored and transported in supercooled containers of -70°C (-94°F). The plan is to load suitcase-sized boxes from distribution sites in Michigan and Belgium onto as many as 24 trucks each day, which would enable the transportation of around 7.6 million doses to nearby airports.
Pfizer and BioNTech will now submit the full Phase III trial data for scientific peewr-review publication.
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