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Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine could have fewer side effects than Moderna’s  

By Brian Buntz | November 19, 2020

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and its partner BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) have announced that their coronavirus vaccine was 95% effective, putting it in line with the preliminary results from rival Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA).

Pfizer’s BNT162b2 vaccine candidate appears to have an advantage over Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine in terms of its low adverse event rate. Out of a randomized pool of at least 8,000 trial participants, only two Grade 3 (severe) adverse events affected 2% or more of the group. A total of 3.8% of the volunteers complained of fatigue, while 2% had headaches after receiving the second vaccine dose.

For Moderna’s vaccine, several Grade 3 events occurred that met this 2% threshold. After receiving the first dose, 2.7% complained of injection site pain. After the second dose, 9.7% reported fatigue, and 8.9% had myalgia. Other events after the second dose included arthralgia in 5.2% of trial participants, headache in 4.5%, pain in 4.1% and erythema/redness at the injection site in 2.0%.

Moderna stock has been trading near all-time highs this week after the company announced its mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine was 94.5% effective in an interim analysis. Moderna’s vaccine appears to have an advantage over Pfizer’s in its less stringent storage requirements. The mRNA-1273 vaccine is stable for 30 days when stored between 2° and 8° C. Pfizer currently specifies that its vaccine candidate should be stored at –70° C.

The vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech could be commercialized soon. BioNTech chief executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters that “if all goes positively,” U.S. deliveries could begin “before Christmas.”

The two companies plan on submitting data to FDA within a few days. Analysts from the investment bank UBS expect FDA to grant emergency use authorization for the vaccine candidate by the middle of December.


Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery
Tagged With: adverse events, BioNTech, coronavirus, covid-19, COVID-19 vaccine, FDA, Moderna, safety
 

About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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