Pfizer hopes for COVID-19 vaccine data ahead of the election

“Let’s be very patient,” he said in a call, According to the New York Times. “I know how stress levels are rising. I know how much the world needs a vaccine. ”

He also sought to release political pressure on the vaccine results: “This is not a Republican vaccine or a Democratic vaccine. It is going to be a vaccine for the citizens of the world. I believe it will be effective. “

As the Times has previously noted, Pfizer’s trial design is one of many more trials, including one conducted by Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. People on Pfizer’s trial receive two doses of the vaccine in a shorter period of time than some other tests. Then, the Times writes, researchers will begin monitoring COVID-19 cases after a second dose than other tests. Pfizer’s trial design allows the first basic glimpse — intermediate analysis — after only 32 volunteers at trial became ill with COVID-19. This is in stark contrast to Moderna’s trial, which conducted an intermediate analysis after 53 illnesses and AstraZeneca, which performed an intermediate analysis after 75.

Pfizer’s 32-case interim analysis is the first of four planned for trial, which is expected to run until 164 cases occur. For the first 32-case analysis, researchers are optimistic about the chances of vaccination if only 26 or more cases are in individuals who have received placebo.

At present, the 32-case limit does not appear to have been met to induce an interim analysis, Bourla suggested in a call today. It’s Good and bad news, As STAT points out. It is better that the vaccine still clearly fails. It also indicates that the trail was moving slower than it had been Multiple international trial sites, Including the United States, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Germany and Turkey.