- U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is claiming that its potential COVID-19 vaccine is now 95 per cent effective against the coronavirus
- Last week, the company made claims of 90 per cent effectiveness, after its ongoing study’s preliminary results came out
- Further results have also suggested that the vaccine is especially effective in older people, who are more vulnerable to COVID-19
- Pfizer will now be seeking emergency use authorisation for its vaccine from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- The company expects the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee to review the data soon, possibly in December
U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is claiming that its potential COVID-19 vaccine is now 95 per cent effective against the coronavirus.
Pfizer’s name has been the talk of the planet since last week, when it announced the preliminary results of its COVID-19 vaccine study. The company claimed at the time that its vaccine candidate was 90 per cent effective, prompting a wave of economic optimism in major exchanges all over the world.
Further interim results from the study have come in, and indicated a higher efficacy rate than previously reported. It now has a similar efficacy rate to the vaccine currently being developed by biotechnology company Moderna, which was announced only a few days ago.
In addition to being more effective, Pfizer’s results have suggested that the vaccine is especially effective in people over the age of 65. If true, this would be of immense benefit to older people, who are more at risk from COVID-19 than other groups.
Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, commented on the pressing need for a medical solution to COVID-19, which continues to ravage populations worldwide.
“With hundreds of thousands of people around the globe infected every day, we urgently need to get a safe and effective vaccine to the world,” he said.
Pfizer has stated that it now has the data about the vaccine’s safety which is required by U.S. regulators to allow emergency use. As such, the company is preparing to seek emergency use authorisation for its vaccine from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It’s expected that the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee will meet to review and discuss the data soon, possibly in December.
Pfizer also intends to submit the study’s new data to other regulatory agencies around the globe, as well as a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The study will continue to collect data on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy for two more years.