Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Biontech starts production
Omikron vaccine should be available from March
The authorities have not yet decided whether an adapted vaccine is required because of the Omikron variant. Biontech and Pfizer are assuming this and want to start the studies in January. In addition, almost half a dozen cancer vaccines are already being tested.
The Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer have started production of a corona vaccine adapted to the Omikron variant for later commercial use. A clinical study on the vaccine will begin at the end of January. “We assume that we will be ready for a supply to the market by March, if the regulatory approvals are in place,” said Biontech boss Ugur Sahin at a health conference of the US bank JP Morgan. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet stated whether it considers a vaccine adapted to Omikron with a different composition than the vaccine currently in use to be necessary.
For the full year, Biontech and Pfizer expect a production capacity of up to four billion vaccine doses worldwide. “We expect that there will also be strong demand for our vaccine in 2022,” said Sahin in his online presence.
He expects income between 13 and 17 billion euros, as the presentation shows. Last year, vaccine sales were likely to have been between 16 and 17 billion euros, as previously predicted. The vaccine’s market share at the end of the year was estimated at 74 percent in the US and 80 percent in Europe. The company is still in dialogue with the authorities about approval in the important Chinese market, said CEO Sean Marett.
Sales accelerate the research process
The billions in sales of the vaccine, the company’s first product on the market since it was founded in 2008, are, according to Sahin, a “historic opportunity to accelerate our vision by reinvesting in the company.” He is also considering complementary acquisitions. Encouraged by the profit outlook, Biontech has accelerated human clinical trials of various product candidates – by far the most expensive phase of new drug development.
Last year, Biontech began five clinical trials of cancer drugs that had not previously been tested in humans, and moved two trials to phase two of development. In addition, Biontech has an influenza vaccine in the first phase of clinical development and plans to begin human clinical trials with four vaccine candidates for herpes zoster, malaria, tuberculosis and herpes simplex this year. The number of employees in research and development rose last year by 40 percent to more than 850.