The US drugmaker, Pfizer Inc, on Wednesday, November 18, 2020, announced that a final analysis of clinical-trial data of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine, showed it was 95% effective, thereby paving the way for the company to apply for the first U.S. regulatory authorization for a coronavirus shot within days.
Pfizer, who is developing the vaccine in collaboration with its partner, BioNTech SE said they had no serious safety concerns in a trial that involves almost 44,000 participants as their vaccine protected people of all ages and ethnicities.
This disclosure acts as a boost to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic which has devastated the global economy as the number of cases has been surging in the United States and across the world.
According to a report from Bloomberg, this Covid-19 update is the latest in a series of very encouraging outcomes on the development of vaccine for the virus in recent days.
What you should know
It can be recalled that biotech firm, Moderna Inc, had a few days ago announced that its Covid-19 experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective, in a preliminary study and expects to apply for emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration in a couple of weeks. This is coming after Pfizer had initially announced that its Covid-19 vaccine was about 90% effective in a preliminary study.
The third vaccine which is being developed by AstraZeneca Plc in collaboration with the University of Oxford is expected to release its trial results in the coming days.
According to data from Pfizer and BioNTech, out of the 170 trial participants that contracted Covid-19, 8 participants who got the vaccine became sick, while 162 of them were seen among those who got the placebo. The analysis showed that shot helped to prevent severe disease, with 9 of 10 severe cases in the trial occurring in the placebo group. It also states that most participants who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine tolerated it well.
It can be recalled that the Pfizer Chief Executive Officer, Albert Bourla, on Tuesday, at a virtual conference, disclosed that they hope to apply for emergency authorization from US FDA within days for its Covid-19 vaccine.
