Drugmaker Pfizer Inc said on Tuesday that it had been not able to release data from the late-stage trial of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate it is developing with Germany’s BioNTech SE.
Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s CEO has stated that the company could release data on whether or not the vaccine works as early as this month, but the company said, the independent data monitoring board which can determine whether or not the trial has been successful has not conducted any interim efficacy analyses yet.
U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier said a vaccine could be available before the Nov. 3 election, but in recent weeks his administration has emphasized that one will be ready by this year.
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Meanwhile, Pfizer hopes to become the first U.S. drug maker to reveal successful data from a late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial, before rival Moderna Inc.
In phase 3 study of their vaccine candidate in late July Pfizer and BioNTech launched their 44,000 volunteer to be the part of the trial.
Its first assessment is scheduled by the data monitoring board to make of the vaccine’s performance after 32 participants in the trial become infected with the novel coronavirus.
Study data of the vaccine candidate is being developed with BioNTech, as the pandemic crimps demand for certain Pfizer therapies and damages global economies, investors are keenly focused on seeing the late-stage.
Pfizer reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates by one cent, helped by better-than-expected sales of its cancer drug Ibrance.
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The overall sales fell by 4.3% within the third quarter, hurt by a push in sales of its off-patent pain drug Lyrica and a $500 million hit to sales from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sales of cancer drug Ibrance grew 6% to $1.36 billion, beating analyst estimates of $1.39 billion, despite increased competition from Eli Lilly’s Verzenio.
According to IBES data from Refinitiv beating analysts’ estimates of 71 cents per of share and Pfizer earned 72 cents per share excluding items.
