Pfizer: "Up to 4.6 Times More Antibody Formation in COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials"

Phase 1 Trial Results... Stronger Immune Response Confirmed Compared to General Recovery Patients

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] American pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced that the phase 1 clinical trial results of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine jointly developed with German BioNTech showed that neutralizing antibodies that inactivate the virus were produced up to 4.6 times more than in recovered patients.

According to foreign media such as CNBC on the 12th (local time), Pfizer revealed that in the phase 1 clinical trial conducted on 45 healthy adults aged 18 to 55, the vaccinated subjects produced neutralizing antibodies about 1.9 to 4.6 times more than COVID-19 recovered patients. Pfizer added that "a strong immune response was observed in the subjects following the second dose and increased dosage." Last month, Pfizer announced interim phase 1 results showing an increase of 1.8 to 2.8 times.

Pfizer divided the 45 clinical trial subjects into two groups, administering vaccine doses of 10μg, 30μg, and 100μg to one group and a placebo to the other. Among these, subjects who received 10μg and 30μg doses were given a second vaccination about a month later. The strongest immune response was confirmed in the group that received the 30μg dose. Pfizer stated that about half of the subjects experienced side effects such as headaches, but no serious adverse effects impacting health were reported. The phase 1 clinical trial results of Pfizer’s vaccine were published in the British medical journal Nature.

Since the 27th of last month, Pfizer has been conducting phase 3 clinical trials involving about 30,000 people in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and other countries. If the phase 3 trials are successful, it is expected that full-scale production can begin by the end of the year after receiving approval from the U.S. health authorities in October. Previously, the U.S. government signed a supply contract to receive 100 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer.