Drug Discovery and Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Genomics/Proteomics
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • R&D 100 Awards
  • The Pharma 50

Pfizer has begun making omicron vaccine “at risk” 

By Brian Buntz | January 10, 2022

PfizerPfizer (NYSE:PFE) aims to have an omicron-specific version of its vaccine available by March. However, it still isn’t sure if the tweaked version will be necessary, said CEO Dr. Albert Bourla in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box.

The “new version” of its COVID-19 vaccine, which it developed jointly with BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), should hopefully offer better protection against infections from the omicron variant. Three doses of the current BNT162b2 vaccine provide “reasonable” protection against hospitalization and severe disease associated with the omicron variant.

Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) plans on launching clinical trials for its updated vaccine soon. The company said its omicron-specific vaccine would likely be available by autumn.

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Moderna has agreements with several countries, including the UK, South Korea and Switzerland, to provide additional vaccine doses by the fall.

Bourla took a swipe at its rival, asking why Moderna had seemingly decided that the “future is clearly predictable right now?”

Bourla added that he was uncertain whether an omicron booster would be needed.

“If there is a need for the vaccine, then we will have some immediately because there are a lot of governors that would like to see it immediately,” Bourla said.

Pfizer is also working on ramping up manufacturing of its COVID-19 pill Paxlovid, which recently won authorization from the FDA.

 


Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery, Infectious Disease
Tagged With: BioNTech, COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 vaccines, FDA, Moderna, Omicron, Pfizer, vaccine
 

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Related Articles Read More >

Lab facility
Massachusetts is competing for ARPA-H biomedical research center
Blockchain
Startup vies to get blockchain adoption in pharma off the ground
Janssen
Janssen’s company group chairman dishes on growth strategy
Curebase
Curebase raises $40 million in Series B funding round 

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.

Need Drug Discovery news in a minute?

We Deliver!
Drug Discovery & Development Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need. Sign up today.
Enews Signup
Drug Discovery and Development
  • MASSDEVICE
  • DEVICETALKS
  • Medical Design & Outsourcing
  • MEDICAL TUBING + EXTRUSION
  • MEDTECH 100
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Subscribe to our Free E-Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • R&D World
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Drug Discovery & Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Genomics/Proteomics
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • R&D 100 Awards
  • The Pharma 50