Drugmaker Pfizer has said that it could supply the COVID-19 vaccine in 2020 if clinical testing proceeds as expected and regulators approve a vaccine.
According to a report by NDTV, the company executives on Tuesday said that the drug giant could supply some 40 million doses in the United States in 2020. "If all goes well, we will be ready to distribute an initial number of doses," Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said. Bourla also pointed to a US government contract for Pfizer to supply 40 million doses by the end of this year and 100 million doses by March 2021. The Pfizer Chief Executive said the company still had not reached key benchmarks in assessing vaccine efficacy.
Meanwhile, Pfizer also said it was not yet ready to release data from the trial of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate it is developing with Germany's BioNTech SE.
As per a report by Reuters, Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla has said the company could release data on whether or not the vaccine works as early as this month, but the company said in a presentation that the independent data monitoring board which will determine whether or not the trial has been successful has not conducted any interim efficacy analyses yet.
The world’s hopes of gaining some level of control over the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed over a million lives globally, are pinned on a viable vaccine.
Pfizer also reported a 4.3% drop in third-quarter sales, hurt by increased competition for its off-patent pain drug Lyrica and lower demand for some of its treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pfizer said quarterly Lyrica sales fell 33% to USD 352 million. Total sales fell to USD 12.13 billion from USD 12.68 billion a year ago.
