By
Tolu Ajiboye
December 13th, 2023
On Monday, Pfizer announced it had dosed the first participants of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the coronavirus vaccine program in the U.S. In general, there will be 360 healthy patients dosed with the vaccine. PFE stock price is rising.
One more company has started human trials of a possible coronavirus vaccine. Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE), in collaboration with German pharmaceutical company BioNTech, has announced running tests of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in healthy volunteers in the U.S. Following the news, Pfizer (PFE) stock jumped.
On Tuesday, Pfizer stock gained 2.37% to close at $38.51. In the pre-market today, it is 1.51% up, trading at $39.02 at the moment of writing. The lowest mark for Pfizer stock this year was $28.49 per share in March. The annual change for PFI shares is negative 1.71%. However, it is likely to change due to the drug maker’s progress in COVID-19 vaccine development.
Pfizer Tests COVID-19 Vaccine in U.S.
On Monday, Pfizer announced it had dosed the first participants of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the coronavirus vaccine program in the US. In general, there will be 360 healthy patients dosed with the vaccine. Those between the age of 18 and 55 will be tested first, to determine whether it is safe to give the drug to older patients between 65 and 85.
Known as BNT162, Pfizer’s vaccine candidate is based on messenger RNA — genetic material that carries the instructions for cells to make proteins. Actually, BNT162 is one of Pfizer’s four vaccine candidates, each represents a different combination of mRNA format and target antigen. The trials will evaluate various mRNA candidates and identify the safest and potentially most efficacious one.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla commented:
“With our unique and robust clinical study program underway, starting in Europe and now the U.S., we look forward to advancing quickly and collaboratively with our partners at BioNTech and regulatory authorities to bring a safe and efficacious vaccine to the patients who need it most.”
He further said:
“The short, less than four-month timeframe in which we’ve been able to move from pre-clinical studies to human testing is extraordinary and further demonstrates our commitment to dedicating our best-in-class resources, from the lab to manufacturing and beyond, in the battle against COVID-19.”
Later, BioNTech will provide clinical supply of the vaccine from its GMP-certified mRNA manufacturing facilities in Europe.
Coronavirus Mutation
The more studies are carried out, the more details about COVID-19 are revealed. Recently, scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in California identified a new mutation of coronavirus. In other words, they believe that since emerging in Wuhan, China five months ago, the virus has mutated and become more contagious.
According to their report, a new virus strain appeared in February in Europe. Then, it migrated to the U.S. East Coast. Since mid-March, it has been the dominant strain worldwide. In addition, the new version of coronavirus spreads faster. Therefore, far more people get infected rapidly, in comparison with strains reported in Wuhan.
The report is preliminary, but the findings are worrying. A lot of companies are working on the vaccine, but the new details make this work much more difficult. To learn more about coronavirus updates, please follow this link.