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Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech announced today that the first participants have been dosed in the United States, in the first clinical trials for the vaccine program to prevent COVID-19.
The trial is part of a global development program, and the dosing of the first cohort in Germany was completed last week. It is designed to determine the safety, immune response and optimal dose levels of vaccine candidates.
Pfizer’s research site in Chesterfield is among three U.S. locations that have been identified as manufacturing centers for vaccine production.
“I am proud that Pfizer chose its St. Louis County facility to produce a new vaccine for #COVID19, simultaneously with clinical trials,” said St. Louis County Executive Sam Page on his Twitter account. “I’ve seen medicine save lives, but a #COVID19 vaccine would truly impact us all.”
“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,” said Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer. “The short, less than four-month time frame 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.”
In anticipation of a successful clinical development program, Pfizer and BioNTech are working to scale-up production for global supply. The breadth of this program should allow production of millions of vaccine doses in 2020, increasing to hundreds of millions in 2021.
Pfizer and BioNTech will work jointly to commercialize the vaccine worldwide upon regulatory approval.
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