Pfizer says coronavirus vaccine could be available for emergency use by fall: report
Testing is underway in Germany
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Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is aiming to have a coronavirus vaccine ready on an emergency use basis in the fall and full approval by the end of 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Pfizer has partnered with German company BioNTech to test vaccine candidates in both the U.S. and Germany — testing has already begun in the latter country. Testing in the U.S. could begin next week if regulators give the go-ahead, Pfizer told The Journal.
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BioNTech has also partnered with Chinese company Fosun Pharma and plans to test the experimental vaccines there, according to a press release.
Pfizer is spending $500 million on coronavirus research and development and $150 million on preparing its ability to manufacture treatments, according to The Journal.
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Other companies focusing on coronavirus vaccine development include Johnson & Johnson and Moderna. It's truly a race against the clock as creating a vaccine can take years.
"When we talk about vaccine development programs, a typical vaccine development program from discovery to licensure can cost up to a billion dollars and take up to a decade," vaccine policy expert Kelly Cappio of Avalere Health told FOX Business.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 26.21 | +0.38 | +1.47% |
"Vaccine development in general involves ... a high risk of failure. These vaccines can't be developed overnight," Cappio said. "It's important to have a lot of candidates in the early pipeline."
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