Pfizer
USCIB member Pfizer announced on April 9 important advances in the battle against the global COVID-19 pandemic. As outlined in Pfizer’s five-point plan, the company has been collaborating across the healthcare innovation ecosystem ranging from large pharmaceutical companies to the smallest of biotech companies, from government agencies to academic institutions to address the COVID-19 global health care crisis.
Pfizer announced key advances in its commitment to protect humankind from this escalating pandemic and prepare the industry to better respond to future global health crises:
Anti-Viral Compound Screening
Applying Pfizer’s Long History in Vaccine Research Development Expertise to Finalize Agreement with BioNTech
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have entered into a global collaboration agreement to co-develop BioNTech’s potential first-in-class, mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine program aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection. In March 2020, the companies announced a letter of intent to collaborate and began working together at that time. The two companies plan to jointly conduct clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine candidates initially in the United States and Europe across multiple research sites. BioNTech and Pfizer intend to initiate clinical trials as early as the end of April 2020, assuming regulatory clearance. The companies estimate that there is potential to supply millions of vaccine doses by the end of 2020 subject to technical success of the development program and approval of regulatory authorities and then rapidly scale up to capacity to produce hundreds of millions of doses in 2021. For the terms of the agreement, please see the press release page of Pfizer’s website.
Analysis of Azithromycin as an Agent with Antiviral Activity
In an effort to share information that could benefit COVID-19 mitigation efforts, Pfizer researchers will publish a review in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics which assesses published in vitro and clinical data regarding azithromycin as an agent with antiviral properties. This open access review may serve to facilitate the use of azithromycin in future research on COVID-19. Azithromycin is not approved for the treatment of viral infections.
Studying Pfizer’s Existing Medicines for Critical Patient Populations in Need
Pfizer Inc. and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s Respiratory Infection Clinical Research Group are launching two new studies to provide insights on the interaction between S. pneumoniae and SARS-CoV-2. Pfizer is expected to finalize in the coming days, a research collaboration agreement with Liverpool to provide funding and in-kind laboratory testing support for this research. The studies will help demonstrate whether patients infected with COVID-19 have a higher risk of also developing pneumococcal pneumonia and if having both infections leads to more severe disease and poorer outcomes. Enrollment has already begun, and data are expected over the next few months.
For a comprehensive review of Pfizer’s initiatives, please click here.