Pharmaceutical company Pfizer on Tuesday announced that millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine could be on the market this year if the testing of the potential vaccine proved the formula’s efficacy.
According to Pfizer, clinical trials for the vaccine will begin in the US next week and approval for the testing will be expected shortly.
“We are fully committed to confronting the public health challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic by collaborating with industry partners and academic institutions to develop potential approaches to prevent and treat COVID-19,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said.
Bourla explained that Pfizer would need to do more testing to ensure that the vaccine works safely.
“If all testing proves successful, Pfizer could start distributing the vaccine on an emergency basis in the fall and receive approval for widespread distribution by year’s end,” Bourla added.
Pfizer is collaborating with German pharma company BioNTech to develop the vaccine which is expected to supply millions of doses this year and hundreds of millions of doses next year.
“The companies estimate that there is potential to supply millions of vaccine doses by the end of 2020 … and the potential to rapidly scale up the capacity to produce hundreds of millions of doses in 2021,” the release said.
The company is also boosting its manufacturing capability in preparation for the mass production of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines once they become available.
“This is a crisis right now, and a solution is desperately needed by all,” Bourla told MarketWatch.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the vaccine for respiratory illness would be ready within 1 to 18 months.
