The vaccine developed by the Pfizer/BioNTech can now be considered 95% effective in preventing Covid-19, according to full results of their large-scale clinical trial, the companies announced Wednesday in a statement.
This is better than partial results published last week showing "more than 90%" efficacy, according to interim analysis data. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech were the first to be able to present successful results after a large-scale clinical study. According to the companies, no serious side effects occurred during the study, they said in a joint press release.
That means 162 members of the trial's placebo group contracted Covid-19, compared with only eight in the vaccinated group.
The US’s Food and Drug Administration (FAD) has said it would expect at least 50% efficacy from any coronavirus vaccine. Pfizer’s candidate vaccine, however, with 95% efficacy, is clearly doing better than what many experts had hoped for. Pfizer will seek marketing approval "within days" from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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This vaccine efficacy was measured by comparing the number of infected participants who had received the vaccine, and those in the group who had received a placebo, seven days after the second dose and 28 days after the first.
The company hopes to deliver 100 million doses by the end of 2020, which should be 1.3 billion by the end of 2021.
American biotechnology company Moderna announced Monday in a press release that its Covid-19 vaccine was 94.5% effective in reducing the risk of contracting the disease.
The Brussels Times
