We may be nearing a COVID-19 vaccine.
In fact, Pfizer (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla just said there’s a “good chance” the company will know if its vaccine works by the end of October 2020.
The CEO told Face the Nation, “We started already manufacturing and we have already manufactured hundreds of thousands of doses, so just in case we have a good study readout, conclusive and FDA, plus the advisory committee feels comfortable that we will be ready.”
The company, along with BioNTech (BNTX) has already begun enrolling 30,000 people in its Phase 3 vaccine trial. However, it’s now looking to expand that enrollment to 40,000, as it attempts to expand to far more vulnerable populations.
“We go to younger people. Right now, the study recruits from 18 to 85. Now we will go to 16 years old,” he said. “Also, we will go to people with special conditions, chronic conditions like HIV patients, but also we will try to use it to increase the diversity of the population.”
Of course, this could be substantial news for the companies, and the world ready to be finished with this debilitating virus.
At the moment, there are 29.05 million global cases with 924,953 deaths.
In the U.S., the number of cases is up to 6.52 million. In India, 4.8 million. In Brazil, the count is up to 4.33 million. In Russia, it’s up to 1.06 million. And in Peru, it’s up to nearly 730,000.
On the news, shares of Pfizer are up 80 cents to $36.83. BNTX is up $3.36 to $68.49.
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