Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

PFE/BNTX start phase-2/3 trial of COVID-19 vaccine:

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200727005800/en

The vaccine selected for phase-2/3, BNT162b2, is not the one for which PFE/BNTX reported phase-1 data in early July (#msg-156682852). The reported phase-1 data were for BNT162b1, which codes for the receptor-bonding domain of SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein, while the selected vaccine, BNT162b2, codes for the entire length of the spike protein—see slide #6 at https://investors.biontech.de/static-files/c4feb567-e564-40e5-a9cf-538892af1c04 .

The above PR says PFE/BNTX selected BNT162b2 because it showed a better safety profile than BNT162b1 and it generated a broader T-cell response due to the additional epitopes. (PFE also evaluated two other vaccine candidates, BNT16a1 and BNT16c2, that were not progressed [slide #6, ibid].)

The phase-2/3 trial of BNT162b2 will enroll approximately 30,000 subjects randomized 1:1 to two 30µ doses of vaccine or (two doses of) placebo. The primary endpoint is the prevention of symptomatic COVID-19 disease (same as in MRNA’s phase-3 trial).