Chennai: Pfizer and BioNTech have emerged the first drugmakers to show successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine.
The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek US emergency use authorization later this month.
With efficacy established, the big problem is availability. Pfizer and BioNTech expect to produce 50 million doses worldwide by the end of the year, enough for 25 million to get the required two shots.
Manufacturing will ramp up, but it will take multiple vaccine candidates to get enough of the global population vaccinated to end the threat of Covid-19. It remains crucial that other vaccine efforts succeed.
Pfizer Inc on Monday said its experimental vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 based on initial data from a large study, a major victory in the fight against a pandemic that has killed over 1 million people, roiled the world’s economy and upended daily life.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drugmakers to show successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek US emergency use authorisation later this month.
