Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced Thursday that it aims to produce 10-20 million doses of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine by the end of the year should it pass the clinical trials.
Pfizer has partnered with German company BioNtech to develop a vaccine for the respiratory disease which have dosed the first humans in Germany, Reuters reported.
The drug manufacturer is seeking approval from regulators to begin a US trial soon.
The pharma company hopes that the production of millions of doses in a span of months would mark unprecedented speed and require immediate regulatory action.
“Of course we need to see and wait to see how the vaccine’s efficacy and safety is demonstrated, hopefully in the coming months,” Nanette Cocero, global head of Pfizer Vaccines, said during a conference organized by drug industry group IFPMA.
“But assuming that is demonstrated, we are looking to ramp up manufacturing rather quickly to have around 10 to 20 million doses by the end of this year, which are expected to then of course be used in an emergency type of setting.”
The company is currently boosting its manufacturing capability in preparation for the mass production of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines should the trials for the vaccine produce favorable results.
Pfizer, BioNtech along with other drug companies are racing against time to develop a vaccine for the virus which has infected three million people and killed more than 200,000 people worldwide.
READ MORE:Human trials for COVID-19 vaccine to begin in US, says Pfizer
