Pfizer and BioNTech said that they had selected a lead vaccine candidate from within a broader development programme and will proceed with a later-stage safety and efficacy trial of the experimental shot in a two-dose regimenPfizer and BioNTech SE said they’ve begun a later-stage trial for their top coronavirus vaccine candidate and set a goal of submitting it for regulatory review as soon as October — one of the most ambitious timelines to date.
The move pushes the New York-based pharmaceutical giant and its German partner closer to bringing a vaccine to market, and places them alongside frontrunners like Moderna Inc, which announced earlier Monday that it had started its own large, final-stage trial of a shot based on similar technology.
Pfizer and BioNTech said that they had selected a lead vaccine candidate from within a broader development programme and will proceed with a later-stage safety and efficacy trial of the experimental shot in a two-dose regimen. The announcement came in anticipation of Pfizer reporting second-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Governments around the world are now looking to lock up supplies of the still-experimental candidates.
Each has hopes of stabilising local economies and stopping spread of the virus that’s taken more than 650,000 lives globally. Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech clinched a $2 billion deal to supply an initial 100 million doses of a vaccine to the US. That set a price ceiling of less than $20 per dose, which will likely impact how much others will charge.