Here is some information that a friend who is an expert in the field told me about the vaccine:
The vaccine announcement came with few "facts" and little read data. Even taken at face value, this vaccine is promising but not ideal. The real data and the protocols remain closed and proprietary. We'll need to wait a while before we know whether this is "the one" or not. The Lancet article suggests even working vaccines are not worth much in terms of curbing the virus. The recently announced vaccine was done outside of government price controls and allocation agreements--a fact pointed out with glee at the announcement.
As to whether the drug company making the vaccine is a good candidate for speculation, I would be cautious. Certainly, in the short range, there will be activity. But the vaccine is impractical as it needs to be kept very cold and it needs multiple doses. Effective or not, 700,000,000 doses to be delivered will need a tremendous expensive infrastructure. I doubt if it will be possible to deliver it as needed. In the long run, one of the other vaccines will win and this one will disappear.
