As the world chases to produce a vaccine for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a global pharmaceutical company gives a message of hope to the public as Pfizer aims for an October 2020 availability to provide the COVID-19 vaccine for the public.
Pfizer leader Albert Bourla shared that they have partnered with German mRNA company BionNTech to ramp up trials for several vaccines, and plans to conduct a major test on a wide scale in the coming months.
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“If things go well and the stars are aligned, we will have enough evidence of safety and efficacy for us to feel comfortable, for the FDA to feel comfortable, and for the EMA to feel comfortable, to have a vaccine around the end of October,” said Bourla during an International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) virtual forum led by FierceBiotech.
The forum likewise revealed that there are over 100 vaccines around the world in its testing stages – 10 of which are clinical tests, while 115 more are in its preclinical phase with the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies partnering up in a race against time to find a safe vaccine for the world.
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“There are no rivals, we are competitors. The only rivals are the virus and time,” said Bourla.
The FierceBiotech report further emphasized the need for collaborations as pharmaceutical companies adapt to a new strategy to put aside intellectual property, normal fears and “business as usual” practices so as to give way for a COVID-19 vaccine to be introduced to the market as early as possible.
