Pfizer and BioNTech said on Thursday that the effectiveness of their South African anti-diversity coronavirus drug was very high in the latest phase of ongoing clinical trials.
No cases of the disease were detected in South Africa during a third-phase study among participants who received their second dose, companies said in a statement.
Various strains of the coronavirus, with its easy-to-transmit ability, have raised global concerns about whether existing drugs will protect the earth from ever-changing viruses.
“In South Africa, where the genealogy of B.1.351 was widespread and 800 participants were registered, nine cases of COVID-19 cases were all identified, all in the placebo group,” the companies said.
The nine pressures were sequenced and six of them were confirmed to be B.1.351, they said.
“The effectiveness of the high-dose vaccine seen for up to six months follows a second dose and compared to the diversity that exists in South Africa gives greater confidence in the effectiveness of our vaccine,” said Albert Bourla, chief executive officer of Pfizer.
In total, the vaccine was 91.3% effective compared to COVID-19 in the analysis of 46,307 trial participants in most countries.
Of the 927 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the case, 850 cases were in the placebo group and 77 cases were in the vaccinated group.
The vaccine was 100% effective in preventing serious diseases as described by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 95.3% effective in preventing serious diseases as defined by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Pfizer and BioNTech had stated in January that “small differences” found in tests comparing the original virus with later versions “were unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in vaccine efficacy”.
The companies said on Thursday the new data “supports previous immunogenicity study results showing that (vaccine) has created a strong antibody response to B1.351 (South African), and although lower than the wild variety, it does not seem to affect the high performance against this variant. “.
Global death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 2.8 million since the outbreak began last year, with vaccines seen as the only chance of recovery.
